Over a 100 rally at Texas Capitol urging the State to halt execution of Robert Roberson

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Over a 100 people gathered at the Texas Capitol on Saturday, calling on the state to halt the execution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted in 2003 in the death of his 2-year-old daughter.

The daughter, Nikki, was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. Roberson’s case has gone through many hoops, as his lawyers have argued that diagnosis is invalid, saying new scientific evidence shows Nikki died from a chronic illness, not from abuse.

58-year-old Roberson was set to be executed on Oct. 17, 2024, but the Texas Supreme Court temporarily halted Roberson’s execution after a separation-of-powers conflict arose. A legislative committee had subpoenaed him to testify the day before the execution, creating a constitutional clash — he couldn’t appear before lawmakers if the state carried out the sentence.

Roberson did not end up testifying, as Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office blocked the testimony. His new execution date is set for Oct. 16, 2025.

Roberson’s lawyer, Gretchen Sween, at the event emphasized that the way that Roberson was convicted should not have been allowed, and he deserves a new trial.

“It was really just sort of the Wild West this trial, the man had no meaningful defense,” Sween said. “This pseudoscience that in the years since, had been totally discredited, that the things his jury had been told were absolute medical certainty have all been discredited.”

KXAN spoke with State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, who thinks Roberson is guilty, and believes the evidence of the incident does justify him getting executed.

“This is simply an attempt to retread the same evidence on other grounds, over 20 years after the fact of the problem,” Little said. “What gets lost in the emotion of this is that 12 jurors actually heard the entire story, heard all the evidence that was portrayed at the trial, and came to this conclusion.”

Roberson provided a statement on Oct. 4, 2025, on his current situation, mentioning that he has “kept [his] hope alive that God would make all things right and bring [him] back home one day.”

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