Framing a Toddler for Murder: The Robin Howington Story

On Prime Crime. I had a man that just came to the [bleep] door, man. And he [bleep] I don't know what the hell happened. A young girl is shot in her own home. He just came in here. And we were all sitting right there. I don't know who he is. You don't know who he is. I don't have a clue. I've never seen him in my life. But figuring out who pulled the trigger is anything but simple. It's nothing. I don't care. I'm not right by a police officer. So please-- Are you a [bleep] kid, me? Are you serious? Your daughter is dead. I know that. And you don't want to tell us who killed your child. I know. Lord have mercy. This case actually started with a bunch of question marks. You need to get Jesus in your heart, because there's a lot of line going on. And right now, you're part of the devil. Hi, everybody. I'm Jesse Webber, and welcome to Prime Crime, where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable true crime cases from across the country. It's the investigation into the shooting of a five-year-old girl out in Tennessee. And answering the question of who did this, well, this is one of those situations where it may not be as clear as you think. I've got an emergency. This food was just at my house. My [bleep] daughter just got shot, man. Please, be hurry. September 14, 2019. A day then 36-year-old Robin Howington won't soon forget, because that's when she calls 911 to report her daughter, five-year-old Destiny Oliver, has been shot. She just got shot right now, ma'am. Yes, yes. Who did it? The guy that just walked up to your door? Yes. Okay, what's her name, ma'am? Robin. Robin, where did he shoot her at? In her own arm? It's in my chest. Okay, we're on our way now. She's laying on the couch. Oh, my God, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? Oh, they're coming, Miss Robin. On September 14, 2019, a family comes home in Knox, Tennessee, and tragedy unfolds. 911 is called. And what happens next is the discovery of a five-year-old who'd been shot, a mom, and a two-year-old who is there to witness it all. The guy who did that was a white-black or a Spanish. He was black. What was he wearing? He had a black shirt on. Did he say anything when you guys opened the door? No! Was she on food or was he in a car, Miss Robin? He was in the car, he was in a black car, so I just opened up the door. Is she able to speak to you at all? Is she conscious at all? No. No. Destiny. Destiny. Oh, my God, I can't believe this. Subsequently, the police and EMS responded and found the child on the couch in her living room bleeding. Robin was sitting on the couch next to her daughter, and she was on the phone talking to someone. That's like four, but then they did her job. That's what they're saying. Okay, well, what about you? We get officers out. Now we got right now the black shirt. I think this case actually started with a bunch of question marks. Detectives have a grieving mother on their hands and a child who's been shot. Now the hunt is on for a possible suspect. At first they trust Robin Howington's account, but already concerns are beginning to surface. I wasn't there. And the door was open like it is now. Okay. And what happened? He just came in here and we were all sitting right there. You don't know who this guy is. I don't have a clue. The police here are going to really be looking at what Miss Howington's first statement was because that really lays the groundwork. Is this someone who's going to be cooperative? Is this someone who could have potential liability here? Some sort of criminal liability? Was this premeditated? Was there an accomplice? And if this was, in fact, a stranger intruder, then the first instance of memory is critical in trying to identify that person. I don't even realize he was in here till it was already. Till when he shot what happened? Did he say anything? Not that he looked like he was surprised because she just went limp. As soon as they enter this crime scene, I think they understand that something is not right. They saw a mother who was genuinely grieving, which I believe that she was. And I think they believe that she was. But the circumstances surrounding the actual death of Destiny were very suspicious. Who do you live here with? You live here with me. This is me and my kids. You and your kids are pregnant. I've got a brief full statement from her. And let's go ahead and get her over to hospital check on the status of the dollar. Destiny is rushed to an area hospital and her mother is taken by a police vehicle following behind. What we're going to have happen here is you can check on your child and everything. And don't keep the updated, okay? And then we're going to stand by for the investigator to come to the hospital, okay? Sorry, everyone. Can you do that, please? I already dealt with it. I'm pregnant. You don't want to run again. Can you do what I just text you? Someone you shot in Destiny. I need you to cut me to you, please. My father's about to die. Did they say anything about how she was? Ma'am, I have not heard a thing about that. But unfortunately, once they arrive, they're too late. Little five-year-old Destiny is declared dead. Destiny suffered a wound from one gunshot. So she had a chest wound and a hand wound. A hand wound might have been a defensive wound or perhaps you were simply moving her hands when the shot was fired. We were finding out from family members. The Destiny was this happy child who loved to play. She's a five-year-old child like any other young girl. You know, she likes to have fun. She likes to watch TV. Robin Hamilton had an ex, Antoine Oliver. And that was actually Destiny's father. And then she also had a boyfriend. And his name was Daniel. But his nickname was Callie. While at the hospital, Howington's behavior stands out to investigators. Hey, we're a phone right now. Hey, we're a phone. The police know that she's on her phone in the cruiser. They hear her talking to people. They still don't know what's going on. So they ask her for her phone. And when they get back, is soaking wet. You need to get out here, okay? You're going to talk to the doctor. I have it in my hand right now. She's got a lobby for the doctor. She passed off somebody. Why do you think you're going to work? She tried to give her phone to somebody in the bathroom. After she realizes she can't give it away to this stranger, she ran it through the water in the bathroom and tried to basically make it not turn on. Detectives need to uncover the truth. And in order to do that, they have to have a more in-depth conversation with Robin Howington. We are not going to drive police. I don't give a f*** of yourself. 10 pounds away in a week. I don't care. You're not going to get trouble from me. Your daughter's dead. And I just want you to be honest with us, okay? So just be honest. We know some things. Now we're getting our peace accused together. So we're going to come back and dump life to us. Robin Howington had minor run-ins with the law in her past. She had been arrested and convicted for a DUI. More lower level offenses. She wasn't someone that the authorities would characterize as someone who was a known felon, so to speak. In this instance, she attempted to destroy her cell phone. If I'm an investigator, I'm going to key in on that cell phone. Is there any other way you can find somebody's number? So you can let people know? I mean, my mom's never bothered about her. But I really don't talk to nobody. I told you, ever since I got raped by a police officer, I really just disliked myself from everybody and made my life just about my kids. Robin Howington was a mother who had a past. She said that she was raped by an officer, a police officer in tri-cities. And that had traumatized her. And when asked about her phone, things get heated. At the hospital, you said you had to go to the bathroom, right? And you tried to give your phone to somebody, correct? And she wouldn't take it. I mean, I didn't want to charge me with something. What did you do with the phone? I don't want to talk, man, because I'm afraid. Your child is dead, and you don't want to talk. She is telling them basically that she cannot really handle that situation. She's telling them I was trying to get rid of my phone because I thought you were going to arrest me for drugs or marijuana. So what you're telling us is you don't care. It's not that I don't care. I don't care if I'm right. My police officers are so police officers. Are you a **** kid, mate? Are you serious? I know that. No, no. Lord have mercy. Do you have a heart? Do you have a soul? She said no time to grieve. She said no time to process this. Robin is taken to the police station after watching her daughter die. And this is what the police know as they walk into the interrogation. They have come to a home. They have seen a mom who they don't feel is acting appropriate. Then you get to the hospital. hospital, where she does what she does with the phone. And they have real questions as to her actions. - You're [bleep] God, now she will be charged. You're gonna be charged with hampering. That's hampering with evidence. I'm serious to God, you're gonna go jail if that's not. - What did I tell you about the week? Did you get gay? I don't care about week. You don't care about week. - Yeah, I don't care about week. - We don't give a [bleep] - Your child is not gay. - That's what we care about, okay? And a lot of the things so far have not been mentioned so they're not making sense. And in fact, you get try to get rid of your phone, it doesn't help all that stuff out. - You can never put yourself in the shoes of someone who's just waiting for something so horrible. And so if someone doesn't react within sort of the emotional guidelines that you expect yourself to react in, you think it's weird. So those red flags have already been raised. - When the doctor told you what you say, I want them [bleep] in jail. - Yeah, it's not the only way we can get that done is if you tell us the truth and be helpful with us. We just came home from the park. And I thought somebody was following me. And so I went down the alley and somebody followed me and then I didn't take nothing about it. She was laying on the couch and Gavin was sitting right beside me and somebody came to the door. - What's interesting was she was able to remember certain details, but there were other details she was unable to elaborate on. Whether or not that raised the eyebrows of police at that time, it's difficult to say. - I would certainly say that what raised the eyebrows of police would be an intruder coming into a home. And the only one that is injured is this small child. - Well, she taught me to hear anything. - And I kept on trying to talk to her and she went inside of it. - Do you think she saw the guy that made me but she tried to put her hands up or something? - I don't know. It happened so fast. - They just want to know what happened. - They're trying to get the truth. This is critical in these first few hours. What's gonna lead their investigation? Who are they gonna focus on? - At this stage, detectives are uncertain how this investigation may unfold, but it's clear there's more to this story. And soon, new developments take this case down a completely different path. - Do you think he would, he would do anything to try to hurt destiny? - I can't really answer that because I'm not around. I mean, he won't even let me know where he lives. And she's scared of him. - When he shot, it was like his eyes got big. I just don't feel like it was meant for her. - The start of the investigation into the shooting death of five-year-old Destiny Oliver is leaving detectives with more questions than answers as they sift through the evidence and statements made by her mother, Robin Howington. Just as they begin to piece together a possible scenario, the story takes an unexpected turn. - You don't have either of the keys to add or a male friend who spends a night something like that. - I mean, yeah, yes, I do. - Which who is that? - His name is Daniel. - Daniel. - Hensley. - What's the deal with her dad? If you're not with her and some other guy's coming over, what's the deal with Destiny's dad? - He had an aggravated assault charge. He's the reason why I don't have my son because he beat me to the point where I was unconscious. So we really don't get along at all. - Robin Howington and Antoine Oliver, who was Robin's ex and Destiny's father, had a history of domestic violence between them. They certainly had this tumultuous history and that was known to the authorities. - He don't know a lot of people around here. So I turn him on to people or let him meet people. - You middleman, 'cause you said, people takes you trying to weave, you know what I mean? - I saw some reports of you and him and had a like a fruity. - Yes, he's very violent, yes. Extremely violent. - And you hadn't seen him the day? - No, I talked to him today and actually Destiny had caught him but she scared of him so she didn't want to talk to him. - I don't think that she explicitly says she was scared of him because of the abuse but I think that it was implied just because of his record and he has like a previous record and he has been charged. - Why is she afraid of him? - No, I really don't know because I mean, he's seen her be very cruel to me and talk bad to me. - Do you think he would ever do anything to try to hurt Destiny? - I can't really answer that. - Days before Destiny was shot and killed, Howington had an altercation with Antoine. She said they were in front of the house, fighting. - Her current boyfriend, Daniel, did mention that he observed her point of gun at Oliver. - What Antoine just showed to Charles? - Yes, he does. - Well, can you think he would just show up man at you? - Oh, he has, definitely. - I know it was Antoine. I could probably use it as an Antoine but I mean, he said drugs. People are gonna do whatever for him. That's what they got to say. - She changes their story again. That it could have been one of Antoine or Callie's associates because now she starts getting into the fact that, ah, you know, I actually do sell some drugs in the area. I sell some pills. He sells pills with me. Maybe it was one of his contacts, one of his people. - You're saying you know it wasn't him but you don't know who the guy was and what came in. And you're saying that it was one shot but we're not finding any bullets there at the house. - What's odd about this situation, you have a girl who was shot. And so if there was a perpetrator who came into the house to do this, they might have escaped with the murder weapon but there should be bullets left behind. There should be shell casings left behind. - I don't know if maybe you're scared so maybe you're getting something or changing a little bit, did this happen at the house? - Oh yeah, yes, it was right there. - They looked in the walls, they looked on the floor, they looked around the room in which Destiny was shot in and they just don't find anything. They start to wonder, well, did this even happen here? Was she shot somewhere else and then brought to this location to stage a shooting there? - The interview finally hits on the very thread detectives have been pulling. - She's straight up with you. I feel like it's her day and I feel like you don't want to tell us that. - I think he said to Nellon that, I don't think he intended to kill the little girl. - He said, oh (beep) I've shot him. - I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I know. - You're right, I'm telling you, I'm telling you. - I'm telling you, I can't do it. - They've got people investigating her, they've got people who know kind of maybe the story of Miss Howington's life a little bit better and the history between her and her acts is well known. And so I think the police are coming up with theories that they think are more likely to watch what the reaction is. - Why didn't you tell us that early? - Because, I mean, this is his daughter too. I know that he killed her, but I just don't feel like he did it on purpose. I feel like he was trying to kill me. - They put this in front of Miss Howington that maybe you're exited. We know that Destiny was scared of him, right? And we know that there are all these problems between the two of you. And they kind of lead her down this path. And so they sort of give her this out. And you can see she latches onto it. - We're gonna see it so you'll line up, right? - The police showed Robin a photo lineup of photo array, which usually has three photos on top and three on the bottom. And the photo array contained Antoine's photo. And she picked out Antoine out of that lineup. - I'm gonna show you six pictures. You tell me the person. - This is not one of them. - You tell me the person and you circle a person that shot and killed your daughter. - Now this is interesting because kind of don't normally show a photo array to someone if the perpetrator is known to that person. But it would tend to show, perhaps, they didn't necessarily believe her. - The police from the beginning said that they didn't think. This was a random person opening her door and deciding to shoot her daughter. So police went back and saw that Antoine had a domestic violence history. They just thought that's the guy. - This huge revelation seemingly inches the case closer to the truth. But a major break comes when a discovery at Robin Howington's home shifts the investigation. - What's the chance is that you were scared today when you had to go in and you shot by mistake? - No. - Said to that. - No, sorry. - So you're sticking with the fact that Antoine did this. - Yes. - You need to get Jesus in your heart 'cause there's a lot of line going on. - Oh sweet baby Jesus, it's even worse. Now you're bringing your two-year-old child in this big. - No, we did it. - As investigators press Robin Howington for answers, the focus turns to her ex and destiny's father, Antoine Oliver, accusing him of the unthinkable, shooting their five-year-old daughter. But investigators reveal a breakthrough, a crucial piece of evidence that changes the course of questioning. - Tell me this. Could possibly you and Antoine got into it today and you had a gun trying to scare him and you shot him? No, that did not happen. Who was surprised if we told you that a gun was found outside the house? That was surprised you. Why not? Yes, it was, I mean-- It was surprised you. I'm scared. Like, I have nightmares of this police officer coming to kill me. You keep talking about that incident, like, what's the deal with that? I'm scared that he's going to come and try to kill me. So you have a gun? I have a gun. What kind of gun do you have? I don't even know. A friend of mine gave it to me. Is it the one that was found outside your house? I guess if that's where he put it. Who is your friend that would put it there? County. Now, Kelly gets involved in this. So now we have the father and Howington is saying that he shot her. But then, when police are realizing, actually, the evidence are not pointing at that father. And they're trying to figure out where was this gun and how did it get it to Antoine's hands. Because when they found the gun, the gun wasn't Antoine's. It was Howington's. I told you that this video of you coming out there and dropping a gun outside, would you believe that? Yes. I didn't want it in the house. OK. So why did you think to get the gun and come and put it outside? Because I didn't want to be charged with having a gun. Is that gun? The murder weapon. I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. Yes, and he wiped it off. You know, the best thing to do with a gun, if you don't want anyone to get hurt, turn it over to the authorities. Rob and Howington, according to the police, text and acquaintance of hers and ask this person to remove the gun from the location in front of our house by the bushes. What we can surmise is this is the text message that she wanted to destroy when she ran her phone under the wire. That is part and upon a smoking gun. At 8.42, you are seen on video taking that gun out. Eight minutes later, you call 911. This is not good. What is going on here? Tell me, please God, you're a sweet man, Jesus. This is a woman whose daughter has just been killed. So she's traumatized and there is a certain level of panic. You know, you can almost say that any action she took have to be viewed through that lens. Howington makes a shocking claim. I was thinking, yes, we're going to put some fucking jail and now we're thinking, hold me. Did she kill her child? Was it a mistake? If it's a mistake, tell us it's a mistake. Did you accidentally shoot your child? No. Well, then what happened? I don't want to kill him. Most people tend to at least take the firearm with them and they'll dispose of it perhaps elsewhere, but they're not going to leave it at the scene of the crime. And won't behold, she says that she discarded it there because her two-year-old son had obtained this firearm and killed her daughter. Is he going to say he shot his sister because kids don't lie, usually. Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Is this even worse? Now you're bringing your two-year-old child in this week. No, you did it. He got the fuck out. I didn't do it. Anton was there. We were arguing. And I feel like my son was trying to protect us. I can't believe nothing to come out of that. If you tell me right now I'm a black man wearing blue pants, I'm going to question it. After she talks about hiding the gun, after she blames someone else for going out outside and throwing the gun out there, then we start getting into what becomes the groundwork for ultimately her final sort of story. I've given you opportunity after opportunity to tell the truth. You can't seem to do it. Like what is the reason? It makes me look like a bad parent. I know, body judgment. I don't care if you smoke enough weed to get the whole city out. If you cared, you would tell us the truth. You told us the truth before that. How many truths are there? I hope not, I sure can go ahead. When I keep talking, you gonna blame it on somebody else. Hell yeah, you gonna blame it on my dog? She was basically giving them one story after another, as what happened? Her version of events kept falling apart again and again and again. We're up to three people, you put this off. Random black guy didn't hurt on the head, now it's gay, but you know who it all points to? You. I'm exhausted. I'm gonna call the D.A.'s office. Investigators want a firsthand look at how this all unfolded, so they return to the home with Howington. The law enforcement officials did a walk-through of the home with Robin Howington, and something you rarely see. That's what he was like here, and she was watching that flick, and I was sitting here, and he started screwing me down, and we got the touch on, and the baby got, that's so weird. It's not bad, Jordan. There's no way to your own reach. They even bring the stool over to the closet where the gun was, and you can see the investigator reaching up with his hand to the top shelf and looking to the another investigator saying there's absolutely no way. After a roller coaster of an interview in multiple stories, investigators aren't fully buying what Robin Howington is selling, and getting to the truth is top priority. The law enforcement would recognize immediately that it would have been impossible for a two-year-old to aim that gun away from himself, and pull the trigger. Investigators are trying to make sense of Robin Howington's story. First, it's a random intruder. Then it's her two-year-old son, Gavin. Two days later, when talking with Howington again, detectives can't shake the feeling that she's still hiding something. The recall on that gun, he'd hit himself with it or something, and he'd be hurt. He wouldn't hurt. We can physically prove these things that there's no way that that happened. I swear to God, I'm happy again. Most accidents that happen with children under ten years old, twelve years old, and firearms, they are self-inflicted wounds. Now why is that? Because children really don't have the strength to pull the trigger of a firearm. According to her story, this has to be one of the strongest and quickest two-year-olds on the face of the earth. The stool was in the kitchen, and the police even asked her, "Oh, so you mentioned the two-year-old who moved the stool to the closet, climbed it, retrieved the gun, came back down, took the shot, went back, how did the stool get in the kitchen?" Just everything on the rabble. I'm telling you, the whole thing about Gavin did it is not gonna fly. You keep seeing him with Gavin, and he can't be Gavin. She's trying to do one thing, it seems like. She's trying to cover for her two-year-old. I genuinely believe that's what happened. She is scrambling, and grabbing, and scratching, and clawing. At any story, she thinks makes it more likely that her son will be able to walk away from this situation without any sort of liability. Robin Howington is officially charged with felony murder, aggravated child neglect, making a false report, tampering with evidence, and attempted tampering with evidence, all in connection to the shooting death of her daughter. Ultimately, what sealed Howington's fate here, I think was a more of a totality of the circumstances than any one smoking gun. First and foremost, the multiple stories, what do most people think when someone lies? They think they're hiding things. I just wanted to hide the gun so no one else would be harmed. These stories really don't hold water. It's never a good thing when your defendant has possession of the murder weapon. It's really difficult to explain that away. The crucial decision will soon rest on whether the state can present enough evidence to a jury to prove all elements of the top charges, or if Robin Howington herself can influence them toward a different verdict. "Did you shoot Destiny?" "No!" "Did you shoot that gun?" No, did you intend for that gun to be in a place where your kids could get to it? No Her first reaction Immediately after this He used to be playing with Sunlights They can't give this grieving mother to the next day No, no, no, no, no, no, we gotta do this right now a Tragic shooting a mother under scrutiny and an investigation that raised countless questions after five long years in March 2024 Robin Howington's world-win trial begins Leaving a jury to decide whether she's innocent or guilty of the murder of her own dog Destiny Oliver September the 14th 2019 That was the last time Is the Oliver Whatever playing song Hey Howington tries to hide the truth There's no lies in the section Throughout this matter Usually those lives were the way and because they can't hold up And the truth starts with us. I think it was really difficult for this state to prove that that Robin actually pulled the trigger itself There just wasn't enough evidence. I think there wasn't the motive Throughout all of the defendant's inconsistencies throughout this entire case There's one inconsistency Not once But she'd take responsibility Ladies and gentlemen That tells you everything you do now This trial was only five days long. That is really short. That means there's just not a lot of evidence Everyone is trying to create a narrative over a really small pool of evidence On this wound there is something called gunpowder stippling around the wound So in this particular case with this stippling I would say the gun was held anywhere from a few inches up to a couple of feet away Both Gavin and Robin his mother had gunshot residue on their clothing Now one has to be extremely close to a gun when it's fired in order to have gunshot residue on them This could point to Gavin being the person who fired the gun And some of the most powerful testimony comes from law enforcement officers And it's clear the impact this case has had on them In that living room number two is where I saw a young lady sitting on the couch And later noticed that it seemed that she was on her phone And kind of walked in and I go See by her and she just kind of points to behind her And that's when I saw So when I saw a foot over young child Were you physically in the room when the doctors were telling Ms. Howington about her daughter's condition? Yes ma'am It wasn't like I would say typical A lot of times you tell a person that their child has died and it's they lose it It wasn't one of those The state tells the jury essentially this is a woman with a bad history Who lied, who changed her story multiple times, who did not tell the truth to the police, who obstructed the investigation From the moment it began, the defense lays out the argument in the counter This is a family tragedy that is being blown out of proportion She was suffering the medical illness from this PTSD, she was treated for it, a gun goes off Her daughter is grievously shot They come out and tell them I'm sorry, your daughter is dead You go straight from that room being told your daughter is dead They drive her to the KPD interview room She's there for the next three or four hours Being questioned by these guys How is a mother going to be in her right mind She made another story that was exactly happened so he wouldn't have to live with this She says Gavin a two-year-old got a hold of a loaded weapon with the safety off And used it to unfortunately kill his five-year-old sister I would love to have a it's a wonderful life moment with her and see what could have happened See that sliding door moment where the cops arrive and she says Oh my god, my two-year-old just shot my five-year-old I can't believe this. I didn't know the gun was accessible. I had no idea. Please, God, let my daughter be okay She is charged with a felony murder because of an accidental shooting If you were in her position Would you be making rational decisions in that? Would you be held to the highest charge in the land Have we got nothing magical For a grieving mother in an accidental shooting that destroyed a family God for the truth A question here is is this a reckless crime or is this an intentional act? Did she or someone intend to kill destiny or was this something that was reckless? Firearms don't go off. They only go off when someone pulls the trigger Let's say a two-year-old did get this weapon. What would they have to do in order to fire it? That depends on how they find it To be honest so if it they found it loaded and the safety was off all they would have to do is pull the trigger There's no question that a gun was involved. There's no question a five-year-old was killed But how responsible is Miss Howington even if this wasn't accident Even if she didn't pull the trigger and even if she didn't want this to happen There's nothing the defense could really do about leaving a gun with a safety off Loaded accessible to a two-year-old. There's absolutely liability there In a surprising turn Robin Howington takes the stand to tell her own story before a captivated jury I made sure the kids was okay here. I went outside to smoke and moved my floor When you came back from moving the car, what did you do? I was walking up to my house And it's the glass door And I see no flash of life go off And when I walked in the cabin was screaming and crying Then the gun was on the ground She sticks to my two-year-old son shot my daughter But the difference this time wasn't who shot Destiny it was where she was when destiny was shot What did you do? I got the game and I took it outside Why did you take it outside Because I didn't want it to cause anymore harm I knew that that was the gun that Gavin used to shoot Destiny and I was trying to protect him I think she tried to share how she was as a mother and how she loved her children She wanted to show her motherly side But the state said I'm sorry, but your motherly side did not keep the gun safe and away from your kids When cross-examination begins, prosecutors have several questions for the grieving mother You just testified that you are walking up into your house and you see the gun go off when Gavin shoots Destiny Is that what you just testified to? Yes And you've seen the video the surveillance video from your neighbor's house Yes, you enter your home at 8.50 The 911 call was not placed until over three minutes later at 8.53.53 Is that correct? Yes So you go back in your home after seeing your daughter get shot by by your two-year-old son according to you today And you wait almost four minutes to call 911. Is that your testimony? I had to find my phone You do understand the gunshot resident was found on your clothing correct And I assume that it came from when I was trying to help my daughter Do you guys understand? If you go back to the first story where she says that she's inside in the kitchen cooking The first version she's inside the house And then the last version she's completely outside the house But prosecution says How were you outside the house and you also have gun residual on your clothes At one point did you say that Gavin took the stool and moved in front of your closet and got the gun Yes After you change it to Antoine brings a gun and you finally do admit that it was a gun in your home that that shot and killed your daughter right You said that Gavin climbed up in the closet and got it out of what you didn't say the black bag at first, did you? I don't recall. You don't recall telling officers that? Ma'am, I was not in my right mind at that time. I had just seen my baby shoot my daughter. Miss Hamilton, have you been paying it to, have you watched your interview here in court? So much, yes, but I don't want to remember any of this. I don't ever want it to be Gavin, ma'am. I don't want him to live with this, do you not understand that? They wanted her to testify and try to earn some of the trust back that she had lost, but after so many stories, I'm not sure how you come back from that. While it's still not 100% certain where the gun was the night destiny was shot, there's some indication it was not stored where Howington said it was on a high shelf in the closet. In your home where your two small children live in the two days, after you think Callie puts this gun away, you didn't actually go check to see where he put it. No, ma'am. You didn't ask him where he put it. No, ma'am. You didn't ask him if he put a loaded gun up with the safety off. You just can't accept that this was an accident. You just can't accept that, ma'am. I was trying to protect my son and nobody wants to accept that. What would you do? It was never narrowed down to one person. It was going close and then it was like, wait a minute, there's tampering of evidence. Here's a different story now. Here's a lie and here's another new story. So nobody knows who killed her with certainty. There isn't a smoking gun in most cases. You have to use circumstantial evidence, you have to take in context. You have to look at who the people are that you're listening to, who's testifying what all the surrounding circumstances are. The case is handed off to jurors for an extremely demanding deliberation. But after just two hours, the jury comes back with their decision. We had the jury find the defendants rotten for back in Owlton, guilty of reckless homicide, guilty of aggravating child neglect, guilty of initiating a false report to the law enforcement officer, guilty of tampering with evidence. Robin Howington is convicted of the lesser included charge of reckless homicide, as well as two counts of aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, attempted tampering with evidence, and making a false report, sparing her from a murder conviction. The jury didn't seem confused by this case at all. They deliberated for two hours, not two days, not two weeks, two hours. That means they got in there, they looked at each other. They said we all think that the son did this. We don't think that she did it, but she's guilty of that, yes, and we're out of here. That is incredibly fast to come to a unanimous decision on such a serious, heavy case. A little more than a month later, the judge delivers the final decision, sealing Robin Howington's fate. I really don't know how you could have made this much worse than what you did that night. You're not concerned, you weren't then, you're not now. You're not concerned with trying to protect Gabby. You're concerned with trying to protect Gabby's mother. Robin Howington is sentenced to 22 years in prison for the shooting death of her five-year-old daughter, Destiny. A firearm and your handling of that firearm is the reason that your daughter is not here now. I wish we weren't here. I know you wish you weren't here. Mr. Oliver wishes that we weren't here, but you're at home responsible. That'll be the judgment for good luck to you. You look at this five-year-old little girl. As a reporter, you cannot personalize things, but it's very hard to not feel at the end of the day that pain that that family may be going through. She was out in a bond because the verdict was guilty. She's in handcuffs and there goes her life. This one tragic moment can change your life forever. There's no fairy-tell ending on a case like this. It's another example of how important it is if you are someone who believes in your right to own firearms, how very, very important it is, how those things get stored. Any time you have the death of a child, a five-year-old, it shocks the conscience. And no one wins in this. Everyone sort of walks away with a hollow feeling. There is no closure for something like this. Just a tragedy all around. A young girl loses her life. A mother's going to spend the next 20 plus years in prison. And for those who loved destiny, no verdict can change what happened or erase. What is truly a tremendous loss. It's all we have for you here on this episode of Crime, Crime, Everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber and as always, stay safe.