The death of a recent Auburn University graduate who was killed in an accidental shooting, allegedly by her boyfriend’s father, has been deemed a homicide.
The Jefferson County Coroner and Medical Examiner’s Office made the ruling and also determined Whitney Robeson’s cause of death – a gunshot wound to the chest, according to TMZ.
Details of how Towers allegedly shot Robeson have not been released. The Jefferson County coroner ruled the shooting accidental. Jam Press
Robeson, who graduated from Auburn University in May 2025 with a degree in interior design, began her dream job just weeks before her death. Instagram/@auburndg
Jam PressThe stunning developments came after Robeson’s beau’s father, Jeffrey Scott Towers, was hit Monday with a manslaughter charge in the tragic, two-month old case.
Robeson, 22, who had just landed her dream job as a trade consultant for Restoration Hardware, was found shot dead inside a Trussville, Alabama, home about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham around 9:30 p.m. March 7.
The Jefferson County Coroner and Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Robeson died from injuries to the “left lung, heart, aorta, due to a gunshot wound of chest,” TMZ reported.
“Whitney lived with inimitable grace; keen, quiet attentiveness and loyalty; boundless generosity and an uncanny way of always knowing just what she needed to do,” Robeson’s obituary reads.
Towers’ attorneys say that “we know that the facts will show that Mr. Towers has no criminal history, has been a productive and upstanding citizen for his entire life, and is not guilty of these charges.”
Details of how Towers allegedly mistakenly fired at his son’s girlfriend remain unclear.
Towers’ lawyers, John Amari and Dain Stewart, described the dad as an “upstanding citizen” with no criminal record in a past statement to The Post.
“What happened to Ms. Robeson was a tragic event,” the attorneys said. “While we understand that the justice system must play out, we know that the facts will show that Mr. Towers has no criminal history, has been a productive and upstanding citizen for his entire life, and is not guilty of these charges.”
But Robeson’s family isn’t buying his claims of innocence.
“The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office determined that Mr. Towers acted with criminal recklessness,” a lawyer for Robeson’s family told TMZ.
Jeffrey Scott Towers, 54, was arrested on manslaughter charges in connection with the fatal shooting of his son’s girlfriend, Whitney Robeson. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office“Given that determination, efforts to portray Mr. Towers as ‘innocent’ are not supported by the evidence in this case.”
Towers’ attorneys say that “we know that the facts will show that Mr. Towers has no criminal history, has been a productive and upstanding citizen for his entire life, and is not guilty of these charges.”
