James Thompson and Cassius Robinson Were Shot at a Tyler Car Wash

Tyler, Texas — July 13, 2005

It was just after midnight.

A business closed. The night quiet.

Then gunfire.

Around 12:00 a.m. on July 13, 2005, officers were called to Wayne’s Car Wash in the 1100 block of West Bow Street in Tyler, Texas.

Inside, they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds.

James Thompson was 66 years old.

Cassius Robinson was 58.

Both had been shot.

Two Men Lose Their Lives

Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Robinson was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, but he did not survive.

Two men had lost their lives inside a place of business, and investigators were left trying to determine who had shot them and why.

Investigators initially believed robbery may have been the motive.

But the answers never came.

The Murders Remain Unsolved

No suspects have been publicly identified.

No one has been charged.

More than two decades have passed, and the murders of James Thompson and Cassius Robinson remain among the Tyler Police Department’s unsolved homicide cases.

Two men lost their lives at Wayne’s Car Wash that night.

The person or people responsible walked away, and the silence surrounding what happened has never been broken.

Anyone with information regarding the murders of James Thompson and Cassius Robinson is asked to contact the Tyler Police Department at 903-531-1000, Detective Ewen at 903-531-1037, or Tyler-Smith County Crime Stoppers at 903-597-2833.

© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished