Knoxville, TN (WOKI / WVLT)
UPDATE: After two hours of jury deliberations Friday, Robin Howington was found guilty of reckless homicide in the death of her five year old daughter.
FULL STORY:
Day four in the trial of Robin Howington, the Knoxville woman accused of shooting and killing her five year old daughter in 2019, continued Thursday with Howington taking the witness stand in her own defense.
Howington was called to the stand by the prosecution.
An emotional Howington claimed that her 2-year-old son Gavin found the gun, and shot and killed Destiny, Howington’s 5-year-old daughter.
Howington said she went outside for a few minutes to move her car and smoke, and that the gun was fired as she was approaching the house to go back inside.
Howington told the court that she moved the gun outside because she didn’t want any more accidental shots to be fired.
The prosecution cross-examined Howington, and pointed out that Howington said she hadn’t seen the gun in the days prior to the shooting.
“Within the three minutes you were outside, it had to be somewhere pretty readily accessible to him?” the prosecutor asked Howington.
“Correct,” Howington responded. “I had never seen it with my own eyes until the 14th [the night of the shooting],” she said.
“So for two days, you don’t lay eyes on your gun, but within three minutes, your 2-year-old found it?” The prosecutor asked Howington.
“Yes ma’am,” she said.
“You’re loaded, cocked, no safety on the gun,” the prosecutor said.
“Yes ma’am,” Howington said.
Earlier in the day, KPD Officer Brandon Wardlaw was called to the witness stand by the prosecution. Wardlaw was one of the officers who questioned Howington the night of the shooting. Wardlaw also confiscated Howington’s phone that night.
In a contentious exchange between Wardlaw and the defense attorney, the defense attorney argued that Wardlaw took Howington’s phone away too quickly, and did not have a reason to take her phone.
Wardlaw told the court he originally let Howington keep her phone, and only took it away after he found out she tried to give it to someone in a hospital bathroom. Wardlaw said it was suspicious that she was trying to get rid of, or destroy evidence.
The defense rested after Howington’s testimony.
Closing arguments were set to begin Friday.
