A death row inmate in Texas could be the first in the nation to be executed for a death allegedly caused by “shaken baby syndrome,” a diagnosis that has recently come under scrutiny in the medical field.
Robert Roberson, 57, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit on October 17. He has filed for clemency, which the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles will review. If the board recommends clemency, Texas Governor Greg Abbott will decide whether to proceed with the execution.
“Look at the support I’ve got, Mr. Governor, and I’m just hoping, praying that you do the right thing,” Roberson told NBC News in an interview that aired last week.
Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.
Roberson said he woke up to a “strange cry” in January 2002 and saw that Nikki had fallen out of her bed. Court documents state that he comforted her, and they both went back to sleep.
When Roberson woke up hours later, he said Nikki was not breathing. He took her to the hospital, where doctors said she was showing symptoms of brain death. She died the next day.
A doctor in Dallas determined the child had died from “shaken baby syndrome,” or head trauma caused by violent shaking.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP, File
Recent studies have shown that the symptoms once attributed to “shaken baby syndrome” could also be linked to other causes such as falls or pneumonia, Kate Judson, executive director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, said at a news conference organized by Roberson’s lawyers.
Since 1992, at least 34 defendants accused of inflicting shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma have been exonerated.
Brian Wharton, who was the chief detective with the Palestine Police Department at the time, arrested Roberson before an autopsy had been completed. Wharton met with Roberson from death row in July to apologize for his actions in a conversation recorded by The New York Times.
“Let me just say, I am so sorry that you’re here and so sorry that you are still here,” Wharton told Roberson. “It’s our failure.”
Roberson said the death should have been more thoroughly investigated.
“I think if it would have been properly investigated more, we wouldn’t be here sitting here now, probably,” Roberson said.
Wharton told the Times that no other possible causes of death were considered. Nikki was chronically ill and had been taken to the hospital several times before her death for persistent respiratory issues and a fever.
“I regret that we followed the easiest path,” Wharton said.
Roberson also spoke about how difficult it was to lose his daughter.
“I would do anything, anything now, to bring her back,” he said.
Prosecutors claimed that Roberson seemed emotionless when he took Nikki to the hospital. Roberson was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in 2018.
“It’s hard for me to express myself [with] certain things,” Roberson said.
Roberson said he still forgives Wharton and others who contributed to his conviction and sentencing.
“I’d like to let you all know I forgive y’all and stuff,” Roberson said. “And I just hope and pray that we can make things right together.”
Roberson would be the sixth death row inmate executed in Texas this year so far.
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