Death row inmate Robert Roberson will not be executed next week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Thursday. Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, who was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome.
The Thursday ruling means the case will head back to trial court. Roberson’s attorneys argue Nikki’s diagnosis can no longer stand up in court.
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Roberson’s case
Since his conviction, Roberson has maintained his innocence. He was scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16, but Texas’ highest criminal court granted Roberson’s emergency motion for a stay of execution.
Roberson’s attorneys made the request on the grounds of a 2013 law aimed at addressing junk science. The law, according to the Texas Tribune, provides for a second look when the science used to support a conviction has since been debunked.
His attorneys argue that there is new evidence of his innocence, and the medical and scientific methods used to convict him have since been largely discredited.
When issuing the ruling, the judges referred to a 2024 ruling in another “shaken baby” case, in which they vacated a Dallas man’s conviction and called for a new trial.
“There is a delicate balance and tension in our criminal justice system between the finality of judgment and its accuracy based on our ever-advancing scientific understanding,” Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Bert Richardson wrote in a concurring opinion. “A death sentence is clearly final and, once carried out, hindsight is useless.”
Two-year-old’s death
The case began in January 2002, when Roberson and his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, fell asleep in their East Texas home. Roberson said he later woke up after hearing a sound and found that Nikki had fallen out of bed.
Later that same morning, Roberson discovered his daughter was unconscious and her lips were blue, so he rushed her to an emergency room. Authorities said upon his arrival at the hospital, Roberson showed very little emotion, which furthered law enforcement’s suspicions.
Within three days, authorities arrested Roberson on a capital murder charge.
Nikki’s medical history
During the trial, the jury never learned how sick Nikki had been since birth. NBC reported she was taken to the hospital more than 40 times in her short life.
Two days before she died, Nikki went to the doctor’s office and registered a 104.5-degree fever. Doctors sent her home with the medication Phenergan, which has since been deemed too dangerous for children and carries a “black box warning” from the Food and Drug Administration.
Roberson’s defense team believes these other medical issues could have been a contributing factor to her death.
Innocent or guilty?
Texas politicians and local law enforcement have since had differing opinions on Roberson’s innocence. Brian Wharton — who arrested Roberson back in 2002 and has since retired — has publicly said he believes Roberson is innocent.
In October 2024, he told NBC News’ Lester Holt that when he arrested Roberson, he was unaware of Nikki’s medical history. He was also unaware that Roberson was autistic. However, at the time, Roberson had not been diagnosed. He was diagnosed in 2018, years after Nikki’s death.
State Rep. Jeff Leach also argues that Roberson is innocent. In a post on X Thursday, he said, “While the system has failed Robert and Nikki at every turn, today — with this action by the Court — truth and justice finally win the day.”
Meanwhile, State Attorney General Ken Paxton previously pushed for Roberson’s execution. In Oct. 2023, he posted a list of reasons why Roberson’s execution should proceed. One of the reasons read, “Robert Roberson murdered two-year-old Nikki by beating her so brutally that she ultimately died.”
Straight Arrow News reached out to Paxton for a statement and is awaiting a response.
