A man who shot and and killed two family members at his Point Loma home – and seriously injured his elderly mother, the only survivor – was convicted Friday of first-degree murder.
William Bushey, 61, was found guilty by a San Diego jury of murdering his older sister, Laurie Robinson, 61, and her son, Brett Robinson, 33, on Aug. 21, 2024 at his Zola Street home. He seriously injured his mother, June Bushey, then 86, as well, shooting her in the chest and one hand. She lost three fingers on her right hand.
Bushey had been living at the home with his mother for about 15 years when his sister moved in following a sudden separation from her husband. The shooting occurred nine days after Laurie Robinson moved in.
Bushey is slated to be sentenced next month. He faces a term of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
During his opening statement, Deputy Public Defender Denis Lainez conceded that his client committed the shootings, but said he was provoked by what the attorney described as a dedicated campaign by Bushey’s sister to oust him from the home.
Lainez told jurors that the mounting pressures affecting Bushey, including the sudden prospect of homelessness while suffering from ongoing physical and mental health issues, led him to shoot his family. At the time, he was “full of emotion and free of thought,” the attorney added; the killings, he said, represented “60 years of emotion, anger and resentment (that) exploded into seconds of unthinkable violence.”
Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello told jurors that Bushey had a history of acting hostile toward family members and that his sister’s abrupt presence in the home set him off, leading him to act out and for her to fear for her safety.
The prosecutor said Laurie and her mother undertook several safety measures out, such as removing knives from the home, changing the locks, and finally, pursuing a restraining order against Bushey and taking steps to evict him.
Police were called twice to the home to respond to apparent angry outbursts from Bushey, once after the knives were removed, and once after the locks were changed. Responding officers determined no crimes had been committed and Bushey was not arrested on either occasion.
Hours before the killings, the home’s internet access was shut off in order to relocate a wifi router from Bushey’s bedroom to his mother’s room. Pirrello said that prompted Bushey to angrily confront an AT&T technician at the house. The prosecutor described Bushey as an isolated man who spent an inordinate amount of time alone playing computer games in his room; the loss of the internet connection was potentially the final straw for him.
A short time later, Laurie was gunned down in the back patio and Brett Robinson – who texted a friend that he needed to go to the home because his uncle was acting “extra sketchy” – was shot in the kitchen.
June Bushey fled the home after she was shot, leaving a bloody trail out of the house.
Bushey called 911 after the shooting and admitted to a dispatcher that he shot his sister and nephew. Officers responded and found Bushey sitting on the front doorstep with his hands held in the air.
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