The True Story of “Rob Peace”: Inside the Life and Shocking Murder of the Yale Graduate Who Spent His Life Trying to Exonerate His Father

Chiwetel Ejiofor brought Rob Peace's story to life in a 2024 movie starring Jay Will, Mary J. Blige and Camila Cabello

Rob Peace was murdered in 2011, but his tragic death and his boundary-breaking life continue to be explored in Chiwetel Ejiofor’s 2024 biopic, Rob Peace.

Based on The New York Times bestselling book by Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, the film follows a brilliant young man played by Jay Will who struggles to balance his promising academic future with the responsibility he feels to free his incarcerated father, Robert “Skeet” Douglas (Ejiofor). Mary J. Blige also stars in the biographical drama as Rob’s mom, Jackie Peace, and Camila Cabello plays his girlfriend, Naya Vazquez.

Rob Peace premiered in theaters in August 2024 and was added to Netflix on Nov. 11, where it quickly rose to the platform’s Top 10 movies. Ejiofor, who directed and wrote the film, told Forbes in August that he wanted to “get beyond the judgement” that often clouded Rob’s story and “understand the systematic challenges” he faced.

To do that, the actor worked closely with the real Jackie.

“She's a wonderful, up, gregarious spirit, and it was a real pleasure to engage with her on the story of her son,” Ejiofor said. “Rob was somebody who felt their familial responsibilities, love of community, family, and friends. In any other given circumstances, he would thrive in the world.”

So, who was the real Rob Peace? Here’s everything to know about the true story of Rob Peace.

Who was Rob Peace?

According to Today, Robert DeShaun Peace (who went by Rob Peace) was born in 1980 in East Orange, N. J., to parents Jackie and Skeet. They were separated, and Rob lived with his mother. Hobbs, who was Rob’s college roommate and eventual biographer, told NPR in 2014 that Jackie learned her son was intellectually gifted from an early age.

“When he was about 3 [years old] in day care, the lady there told Jackie they were calling him ‘the professor,’ ” Hobbs said. “And she thought they were making fun of her, or, worse, they were making fun of her son, before she realized they were calling him that earnestly in reference to his intelligence and curiosity.”

While Jackie worked multiple jobs to support Rob, Skeet was also active in his son’s life, particularly in his academic pursuits. Hobbs told NPR that Skeet taught his son the importance of good penmanship and memory — even while incarcerated.

What did Rob Peace’s dad go to jail for?

According to NJ.com, Skeet was found guilty of murder in the shooting deaths of Charlene Moore and Estella Moore in 1987. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Rob, who was 7 at the time of his father’s arrest, visited Skeet in jail every weekend until he was 18. Skeet also regularly called home to check in on his son’s academics.

“[Skeet] would call home every day and make sure he did his homework,” Dante Peace, Rob’s uncle, told NJ.com in July 2024. “So I think he had some level of a higher intelligence as well that fed [Rob].”

Throughout his life, Skeet maintained his innocence and asked his son to help exonerate him. Rob worked for years to overturn his dad’s conviction on the grounds of lack of a speedy trial, and he succeeded at one point, temporarily freeing his father. But an appeal put Skeet back in prison.

Did Rob Peace graduate from Yale?

After graduating from St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, N. J., Rob’s future was so bright and promising that a bank executive he met during a banquet gave him a blank check to cover all of his college costs.

He went on to attend Yale University where he studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry. To help fund his father’s exoneration efforts and legal representation, Rob also started selling marijuana out of his dorm room, allegedly saving up to $100,000.

Rob graduated from Yale in 2002 and returned home to teach biology at St. Benedict's until 2007. He also worked in baggage handling at Newark International Airport. Jackie told NJ.com that her son — who she called Shaun — was “beyond his times” and was told he was overqualified for many jobs.

“It actually shows it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your color or whatever, you can still achieve certain things,” Jackie told the local outlet. “If you have something in mind to do, you should be able to try to do it. And that is what Shaun did try to do.”

What happened to Rob Peace's dad Skeet?

During his incarceration, Skeet was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died in jail in 2006.

Hobbs, who lived with Rob throughout their years at Yale, told NJ.com that he didn’t know much about his roommate’s life outside of school, saying he “didn’t volunteer” many details about his dad.

“Rob had a way of making you feel pretty uncomfortable if you were asking about something he didn’t want to talk about,” Hobbs said. “I’m not sure he would’ve been thrilled to have a book written about him. In fact, he would’ve been pretty mad at me, I think.”

Hobbs added, “But I do think also that he was a teacher and he cared about his friends and his community and his friends’ kids, and if he saw maybe the way that his story compels a lot of young people to share their own stories, I think he would be pretty glad about that.”

What happened to Rob Peace?

At some point during his 20s, Rob started selling marijuana again. In May 2011, he was shot and killed in a grow house in Newark, N.J. Police found cash and marijuana at the scene, but the shooter was never identified. Rob was 30 years old.

Hobbs told NPR that over 400 people attended his college roommate’s funeral.

“[The funeral] [was] very painful, also beautiful — people from all over the world in downtown Newark,” the author said. “But, outside that church, it seemed like a lot of people were almost eagerly condemning him as this cliche of potential squandered ... We just knew Rob Peace was not a cliche.”

How accurate is the movie Rob Peace?

Ejiofor told Today that “the fundamental bones” of his movie Rob Peace reflect Rob's real story but added that the movie has some details that weren’t included in the book.

“Inevitably, there are things that nobody was present for, that you kind of have to create, certain moments that you take your best stab at,” the 12 Years a Slave actor said. “That’s part of the process, I think, with any adaptation or with any story, really, that's based on true events.”

According to NJ.com, the film uses some of Rob’s own writing to draft statements for graduate school applications. Jackie saw the film at its Sundance Film Festival premiere in January 2024 and said that Will did an “excellent job” portraying her son — and that Blige also represented her well.

“We would see it was me, especially when she got that attitude thing,” Jackie told NJ.com. “When she was talking with that attitude, I said ‘damn, she got me right there.’ ”