KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Wednesday marked the third day of the trial for a Fountain City mother accused of killing her 5-year-old daughter.
Robin Howington, 41, turned away whenever she saw pictures presented to the jury harking back to her daughter, such as the child's bloody shirt and the couch where she died the night of Sept. 14, 2019.
Howington is charged with felony murder and evidence tampering among other charges. On Wednesday, prosecutors focused on forensic evidence gathered after the shooting and the semi-automatic gun that killed Howington's daughter.
Over the last few days, the state has been focusing on how the mother repeatedly lied about the shooting, while the defense contends it was a tragic accident.
Forensic evidence offered Wednesday offered signs it could have been an accident.
Forensic experts from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said they found gunshot residue from the shooting on Howington’s dress and on her little boy’s clothes.
That would indicate they were both close to the gun when it was fired, testimony has shown.
"If this gun was found by a child loaded and with the safety off, all they had to do is pull that trigger to fire?" defense attorney Mike Whalen said.
"That is correct, yes," said Ryan Kuykendall, the TBI forensic expert.
Whalen portrayed Howington as a woman who has Post-Trauamatic Stress Disorder because she was raped in the past by a Tri-Cities police officer, and when she was questioned right after the incident Whalen said she was not in her right mind.
KPD lead investigator Tim Riddle said when questioned Howington, the mother lied again and again about who fired the fatal shot. He said she named her 2-year-old son as the shooter in one version of events.
A TBI forensics expert on Wednesday said it was possible – in certain circumstances – for the boy to fire the semi-automatic pistol that killed Howington's daughter.
A video from the day when Riddle and another investigator read Howington's Miranda Rights was played inside the courtroom.
"No, she will be charged," Riddle said in the video. "She will be charged with tampering, that’s tampering with evidence. I’m serious to God, you’re going to go to jail for that tonight. You can lie all you want to, we want the truth from you."
Evidence showed on Sept. 14, 2019, the 5-year-old girl died from a bullet that went through a remote control, through her chest and through a pillow. Now at her trial, Howington's defense attorney said she was a grieving mother who had just lost her child and KPD investigators mistreated her.
Whalen asked Riddle about a policy that says there's a specific timeframe on when an officer involved in a shooting should give a testimony.
"So, off and on police officers get 48 or 72 hours to get their thoughts together and recall things and citizens get whatever time you give them,” Whalen said.
“Yes sir,” Riddle replied.
“In this case, 45 minutes from being told her daughter was killed,” said Whalen..
"We were trying to determine the cause, the motive — was this a domestic?" Riddle said.
The defense said KPD manipulated the story, suggesting to Howington the shooter was the child’s father.
“I don’t think he intended to kill the little girl. I think he was going to shoot and scared the hell out of you, his ex-wife and he said, 'Oh (expletive), I shot the baby,'” Riddle said in the video.
“You’re right, OK, you’re right, OK,” Howington said.
Riddle said they thought it was the father because of his background, which includes domestic violence.
"And we went there based on the database. We do not want anyone that would harm a 5-year-old girl on the streets," Riddle said. "That was what was important to me, and should be important to any human who’s walking or citizen of Knoxville.”