Texas has set an execution date for Robert Roberson, an East Texas man found guilty in 2003 of killing his 2-year-old daughter, despite his continual claims of innocence and the assertion that his conviction was founded on disputed science. Roberson has been on death row for over 20 years and faces execution on October 17, as reported by the Texas Tribune.

In 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted Roberson's execution and remanded the case to the trial court when the medical consensus on shaken baby syndrome, central to his conviction, was called into doubt. Despite this development, and the introduction of the junk science law, which allows for convictions based on discredited scientific evidence to be overturned, the court declined to overturn the death sentence in 2023. Roberson's defense contends that setting the execution date is "premature and unjust," especially given their new evidence which suggests that his daughter, Nikki, died from "natural and accidental causes."

At the heart of the issue lies shaken baby syndrome, a condition historically diagnosed in cases of infant death resulting from violent shaking. Roberson's lawyers argue, that there is overwhelming new evidence indicating that Nikki had severe undiagnosed pneumonia which caused her health to decline, leading to her death. These points were made in their submissions detailing that in Nikki's final week, she had been taken to the emergency room with symptoms including coughing, wheezing, and diarrhea and had a recorded temperature of 104.5 degrees.

Further challenging the original conviction, Roberson's attorneys refer to recent developments in a similar Dallas County case, where testimony on shaken baby syndrome by a child abuse expert, which had been employed at Roberson's trial, has now been partially recanted. They note, too, that new scientific arguments suggest that shaking a toddler to death without causing serious neck injuries—which Nikki did not have—is impossible. Despite these developments, prosecutors maintain that the evidence against Roberson remains "clear and convincing," pointing out to witnesses who painted Roberson as hot-tempered and claimed he would shake and spank his daughter.

With the execution date set, Roberson's legal team is pushing against the clock to submit any final filings, seek relief in state and federal courts, and begin the clemency process.