Texas Appeals Court Again Pauses Execution of Robert Roberson in Shaken Baby Case

Robert Roberson, 58, spent almost 22 years on Texas death row for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtissits behing glass at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit, the prison that houses the 169 men on Texas’ death row in Livingston, Texas, January 22, 2025. The Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison with a capacity of 2,984 inmates and an area of approximately 472 hectares. (Photo by Cécile CLOCHERET / AFP) (Photo by CECILE CLOCHERET/AFP via Getty Images)

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas’ top criminal court has again paused the execution of Robert Roberson, just days before he had been set to become the first person in the U.S. put to death in a shaken baby case. The execution stay was granted on Thursday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Roberson had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection Oct. 16. This was the third execution date Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016. Nearly a year ago, an unprecedented intervention by a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers stayed an earlier scheduled execution. Prosecutors say Roberson hit and violently shook his 2-year-old daughter. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence.