By Vanguard Staff

ANDERSON COUNTY, TX – Despite substantial evidence of innocence, a Texas district court on Tuesday scheduled the execution of Robert Roberson for October 16, 2025. Roberson, a father convicted in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki, has long maintained his innocence, and his case has drawn national attention for its reliance on the discredited “Shaken Baby Syndrome” hypothesis.

The order to set an execution date comes even as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) continues to review a pending habeas corpus application filed in February that presents significant new medical, scientific, and legal evidence supporting Roberson’s claim of actual innocence. If carried out, Roberson’s execution would be the first in the nation based solely on the widely debunked “Shaken Baby” theory.

Roberson, who has spent more than 20 years on death row, was nearly executed in October 2024 before a bipartisan coalition of Texas lawmakers intervened. His defense team contends that no court has substantively reviewed the wealth of new evidence that shows his daughter died of natural causes, including undiagnosed pneumonia, compounded by respiratory-suppressing medications prescribed to her. According to expert testimony and medical documentation, Nikki’s condition deteriorated into sepsis and a clotting disorder, leading to her tragic death—none of which, the defense argues, was Roberson’s fault.

In 2003, Roberson was prosecuted and sentenced to death after the State presented a shaken baby hypothesis to explain Nikki’s death, claiming abuse based on a triad of symptoms: subdural hemorrhaging, retinal bleeding, and brain swelling. At the time, these symptoms were considered definitive evidence of violent shaking. Since then, the medical consensus has shifted, with extensive research showing that these symptoms can be caused by illness, short falls, and other non-abusive factors. The same diagnosis was used to convict another man, whose conviction was overturned by the CCA in October 2024 in the case of Ex Parte Roark. Roberson’s case, his attorneys argue, is materially indistinguishable from Roark.

The February 2025 application to the CCA includes expert affidavits and a joint statement from 10 independent pathologists rejecting the original autopsy conclusions. One of the key experts, Dr. Michael Laposata, emphasized that Nikki’s symptoms and autopsy findings align with severe infection and DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation) not abuse. In addition, declarations from witnesses and former jurors support Roberson’s character and dispute the State’s portrayal of him at trial. The filing also includes declarations from Roberson’s family and friends attesting to his love and devotion to his daughter.

The legislative record on Roberson’s case further underscores what his attorneys describe as a systemic failure of due process. In fall 2024, the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence held multiple hearings focused on whether the state’s changed-science law, Article 11.073, has been applied properly in cases like Roberson’s. Lawmakers heard expert testimony asserting that Nikki’s illness and medical treatment explained her death and that there was no evidence of abuse. The committee’s interim report released in November 2024 concluded that Roberson’s case exemplified the failure of Texas courts to implement the changed-science statute as intended. The report further noted the barriers faced by neurodivergent individuals like Roberson, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder and was a special education student who left school in the ninth grade.

The hearings also exposed shortcomings by prosecutors. Lead detective Brian Wharton testified that Roberson was the victim of a rushed investigation fueled by flawed medical assumptions. Dr. Phil McGraw, testifying in support of Roberson, said the word “shake” was used so frequently during the trial that he lost count. Lawmakers expressed frustration that the current district attorney had not read the new medical reports and could not answer basic questions about the case.

During the 2024 hearings, legislators subpoenaed Roberson to testify about his case, prompting a temporary stay of execution. Although the Texas Department of Criminal Justice initially agreed to comply, the Attorney General’s Office intervened and blocked the testimony. The Texas Supreme Court later ruled the subpoena could not stop an execution from proceeding, but affirmed the Legislature’s authority to compel testimony. Despite this, the Attorney General has continued to block Roberson’s appearance before the committee.

In addition to the medical and legislative evidence, Roberson has received broad support from across the political spectrum. Nearly 100 bipartisan Texas lawmakers, 34 medical professionals, 70 attorneys who have defended individuals falsely accused under the shaken baby theory, former judges, exonerees, faith leaders, parental rights advocates, and advocates for people with autism have written in support of Roberson’s clemency petition. Letters from family, friends, and fellow citizens affirm his innocence and urge the courts to grant him a new trial or declare him innocent.

Roberson’s attorneys said they will seek an immediate stay of execution so that the courts may consider all of the evidence without the pressure of a looming execution date. Attorney Gretchen Sween, who represents Roberson, warned that Texas is poised to execute an innocent man and called on the courts and the public to take seriously the overwhelming evidence of innocence that has yet to receive a full hearing.