SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A man who shot three of his family members at his Point Loma home -- killing his sister and nephew and seriously injuring his elderly mother -- was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
William Bushey, 61, was convicted by a San Diego jury earlier this year of murdering his sister, Laurie Robinson, 61, and her son, Brett Robinson, 33, during an Aug. 21, 2024, shooting at the Zola Street home he shared with his mother.
Bushey was also convicted of the attempted murder of his then-86-year- old mother, June Bushey, who was shot in the chest and lost three fingers on her right hand.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello told jurors that the abrupt presence of his sister, who moved into the home following a sudden separation from her husband, set Bushey off. The shooting occurred nine days after Laurie Robinson moved in.
Bushey's hostile behavior following his sister's arrival caused Laurie and her mother to take several safety measures out of fear, such as removing knives from the home, changing the locks, and finally pursuing a restraining order against Bushey and taking steps to evict him, Pirrello said.
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, which reportedly led Bushey to break off a doorknob to enter the house. Responding officers determined no crimes had been committed and Bushey was not arrested on either occasion.
Hours before the killings, the internet was shut off to relocate the home's Wi-Fi router from Bushey's bedroom to his mother's room, which Pirrello said prompted Bushey to angrily confront an AT&T technician at the house. Pirrello described Bushey as an isolated man who spent an inordinate amount of time alone playing computer games in his room, and the internet disconnection was potentially the final straw.
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 blood 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 to the home and found Bushey sitting on the front doorstep with his hands held in the air.
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 amid the mounting pressures affecting Bushey -- including the sudden prospect of homelessness while suffering from ongoing physical and mental health issues -- he committed the shooting while "full of emotion and free of thought" and that the killings represented "60 years of emotion, anger and resentment (that) exploded into seconds of unthinkable violence."
Along with murder, attempted murder and elder abuse counts, jurors found true special circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders, which all but assured Bushey would receive a life-without-parole sentence.
Before imposing two consecutive life-without-parole terms against Bushey, Superior Court Judge Joan Weber said, "These two people lost their lives for no reason at all."
Among the family members who spoke at Bushey's sentencing hearing were Laurie Robinson's two living sons, Kyle and Ryan Robinson, both of whom said they forgave their uncle.
Kyle Robinson, twin brother to Brett, said the family would have tried to help Bushey with his struggles, if only he'd accept it.
"We would not have let you be homeless. We would not have tried to make your life miserable," he said. "Instead of accepting the empathy on the other side of your bedroom door, you stewed in resentment towards us for no good reason."
June Bushey made the final victim impact statement, in which she asked her son to turn around in his seat to look at her. Bushey did not and did not make a statement during the hearing.
"You can't even face us, can you?" June told her son. "What you have done has been very selfish ... We're going to survive. We're going to stay together as a family ... You have a lot to make up (for), but I don't think you will. You don't have it in you. You never had it in you."
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
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