He has claimed his innocence for roughly two decades, claiming junk science or the Shaken Baby Syndrome as the reason for his conviction.
PALESTINE, Texas — An execution date has been set for Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson, who has long maintained his innocence for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter.
Roberson was initially set to be executed Oct. 17, 2024, for the 2003 conviction in the death of Nikki Curtis in Anderson County. He has maintained his innocence for roughly two decades, spending time in-and-out of appeals courts citing junk science or the Shaken Baby Syndrome as the reasons for his conviction. Last fall, multiple appeals to courts led to his stay of execution.
Judge Austin Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court in Smith County heard arguments from both the state and defense. After arguments, he ruled there’s no legal basis that an execution cannot be set.
Jackson then set an execution date for Oct. 16, 2025 at 6 p.m. saying this is the “reality of where we are.” He did, however, say it’s hard to find a reason why this needs to be done today.
In response to the ruling, Roberson’s lawyer Gretchen Sween said Texans should be “outraged that the court has scheduled an execution date for a demonstrably innocent man.” She said the team intends to seek a stay of execution for Roberson.
“Everyone who has taken the time to look at the evidence of Robert Roberson’s innocence—including the lead detective, one of the jurors, a range of highly qualified experts, and a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers—has reached the same conclusion: Nikki’s death was a terrible tragedy. Robert did not kill her. There was no crime,” Sween said.
During the hearing, Sween pointed out that Roberson still has a pending application for writ of habeas corpus in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, saying an execution date should not be set in a practical sense.
Jackson said at some point an execution date would need to be set, and the Court of Criminal Appeals would then need to take action in order to grant Roberson’s writ of habeas corpus.
The latest appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals has more evidence that Sween says explains Nikki Curtis’ poor health condition and that she said shows this was not a now-debunked “Shaken Baby Syndrome” case.
She said that the process of the CCA should be respected. Sween said the last time that the CCA considered evidence was back in January 2023.
Jackson told the state the CCA has been sitting on the defense’s most recent filing for five months as of July 16, 2025.
Jennifer Martin, Roberson’s sister-in-law, said the CCA is taking a long time because there is a lot to consider.
“If they didn’t have to consider they would just make a quick decision,” Martin said.
Nikki’s brother Matthew Bowman, who believes that Roberson is guilty of murdering Nikki, said the defense tried multiple times to make appeals in this case.
“At the same time, like the judge said, they’ve already had their chances to do this and they’ve turned it down multiple times,” Bowman said.
Sween said there’s no reason for an execution to be set for Roberson, who has live appeals and is among many death row inmates in Texas.
The state encouraged the judge to set the execution, and the date would be about 90 days out, saying it wouldn’t be happening in a rush.
The defense continues to cite evidence indicating Nikki died due to severe pneumonia and related medical conditions, which were exacerbated by medications and a fall from the bed.
Prior to the hearing, there was a brief altercation between family members as they passed through security into the courtroom. One man could be heard saying, “he killed my sister.” The group was ultimately allowed in the courtroom after a warning from security.
