White mom allegedly kills daughter, 5, blames Black dad, toddler son

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A Tennessee mother has been indicted for the September 2019 murder of her 5-year-old daughter, a crime she initially blamed on three other people. .

Robin Howington, 37, continually changed her tale about what happened the night Destiny Oliver was killed. She initially told investigators that a stranger shot the child in the chest. Then she blamed the girl’s father, who is Black, and finally her 2-year-old son, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.

According to an indictment, Howington first tried blaming a man she did not know for the crime, claiming he broke into her home and shot her daughter once before fleeing in a black Chrysler 300.

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During the police interview, she flipped the script and noted that the man was actually her boyfriend, — who is not Destiny’s father. 

When investigators later found a handgun stashed by a bush near her home — Howington said boyfriend put it there. A neighbor’s surveillance video, however, showed Howington was the one who attempted to conceal the weapon, according to investigators. 

Only when confronted with the footage did Howington admit to hiding the gun to protect her toddler son, who she claimed had found it in a closet and shot Destiny to death. 

The indictment alleges she “did unlawfully kill [Destiny Oliver] during the perpetration of aggravated child neglect.”

Howington has been charged with first-degree murder, child neglect, false reporting, tampering with evidence and attempted tampering with evidence, per People.

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The tampering charges stem from her attempts to destroy her cell phone on the evening of tragedy. She later told authorities that she did not want them to discover evidence of drug sales on her cell, WVLT reports. 

Howington attempted to destroy her phone by putting it underwater, according to police. She also offered to pay a witness to take the phone because she didn’t want investigators to have it, WATE reports.

The Knoxville Police Department will reportedly attempt to recover the phone’s data. 

Howington was taken into custody Wednesday and is being held on a $500,000 bond.

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