William Bushey Is Accused of Killing Sister, Nephew and Wounding 86-Year Old Mother on Zola Street
By Ben J. Costas / hoodline / January 13, 2026
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A San Diego jury yesterday, January 12, began hearing a chilling Point Loma murder case, as opening statements kicked off the trial of 61-year-old William Bushey. Prosecutors say Bushey shot and killed his sister, Laurie Robinson, 61, and her son, Brett Robinson, 33, and seriously wounded his 86-year-old mother, June Bushey, inside the family’s Zola Street home in August 2024. Jurors are now weighing two starkly different narratives of what led to the bloodshed.
Prosecutor’s account
Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello told jurors that Bushey had grown increasingly hostile toward relatives, and that his sister’s sudden return to the house helped ignite the August 21, 2024, attack at the Zola Street residence. Prosecutors say the family’s internet service was being moved that day and a visit from an AT&T technician triggered an angry confrontation that escalated into gunfire. According to ABC 10News, Bushey called 911, admitted to the shootings, and was found by officers waiting on the front doorstep with his hands raised.
Defense: Provocation claim
Deputy Public Defender Denis Lainez offered a very different picture, telling jurors that Bushey had lived quietly at the home for years and was pushed to a breaking point by the threat of losing his housing and by ongoing health problems. Lainez described the shooting as an eruption after long-simmering family tensions, arguing that Bushey acted while full of emotion and free of thought in a way the defense says should undercut a murder conviction, according to ABC 10News.
Family history and police contacts
Relatives had already been worried enough about Bushey’s behavior to take concrete safety steps before the shooting, testimony and prior hearings have shown. Family members removed knives from the house, changed locks, and sought both a restraining order and an eviction. Police were called to the Zola Street home twice in the days leading up to the killings because of what were described as angry outbursts by Bushey, but officers determined no crimes had occurred and did not arrest him, according to the Times of San Diego. Court records and earlier coverage, including reporting in The San Diego Union-Tribune, also note that special-circumstance allegations tied to multiple murders could expose Bushey to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Legal implications
Bushey has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder and is being held without bail while the trial unfolds, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. If jurors ultimately find the special-circumstance allegations proven, the case carries the potential for a life term without parole under California law, an outcome prosecutors have indicated they may pursue, the outlet reports.
What’s next
The trial is expected to continue in the coming days with witness testimony and physical evidence, as jurors sort through competing accounts of Bushey’s motives and state of mind. Neighbors and relatives are following the proceedings closely after a tragedy that capped a period of escalating family conflict inside the Zola Street home, where police had already been called in the weeks before the slayings, according to the Times of San Diego.
