Vinton woman faces 10 years for giving gun to 16-year-old son

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Vinton woman was convicted Monday in federal court for providing a gun to her son, who was passing around the firearm with his friends when it accidentally fired, hitting and killing a 14-year-old girl in 2015.

Robyn Merchant, 53, pleaded guilty to providing a firearm to a prohibited person in U.S. District court. She purchased a Walther HK MPS 22LR semi-automatic rifle for her son Dillon Winterroth, 16 at the time, the day before Emma Redlinger was fatally shot in his bedroom on Feb. 24, 2015.

Merchant knew her son smoked marijuana regularly when she gave him gun, which is against federal law, according to court documents. Winterroth began using marijuana at 14, and by the age of 15, he typically smoked a couple of days every week. Winterroth tested positive for marijuana the day Redlinger was shot.

An investigator testified during Merchant's detention hearing in March that teens told a grand jury her son was dealing drugs out of their home, and they also purchased drugs from Merchant when Winterroth was gone.

William Hines Jr., Winterroth and another teen were passing around the gun when it discharged, juvenile petitions show. Redlinger died four days later. The teens initially lied to police about what had happened, but Hines eventually admitted he was holding the gun when it discharged, according to the petitions.

Dillon Winterroth, now 17, pleaded guilty in April as a juvenile to misdemeanor drug charges. Hines is charged as an adult with involuntary manslaughter, interference with official acts and harassment of public officers and employees. His trial is set for July 5 in Benton County District Court.

Merchant remains in jail pending sentencing, which isn't set at this time. She had difficulties on pretrial release and was taken into custody earlier this month. Merchant racked up several violations and a magistrate gave her a few breaks. Her violations included failing to show up in state court, failing to appear at probation for drug testing and lying about her drug usage to a probation officer.