Jesse Stone Sexually Assaults 91 YR Old Woman

Jesse Stone
Jesse Stone

Jesse Stone is a rapist from Florid who would plead guilty to the sexual assault of a ninety one year old woman

According to court documents Jesse Stone, who was fourteen years old at the time of the attack, would break into the home of a ninety one year old woman who he would attack and sexually assault after she caught him sneaking around her home late at night

Jesse Stone would ultimately be arrested and plead guilty to one count each of sexual assault by someone under 18 years toward a victim over the age of 12 and burglary of a dwelling with battery

Jesse Stone was tried as an adult and faces decades in prison when sentenced in December 2024

Jesse Stone Case

A teenage boy in Florida admittedly sexually assaulted a 91-year-old woman earlier this year, court records filed this week show

Jesse Stone, 14, broke into the home of the nonagenarian victim over the summer, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman woke up around midnight and saw someone “sneaking through her home,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Then, the adolescent criminal brutally attacked his victim.

“In a cruel act of violence, she was beaten and sexually battered,” Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at the time.

The incident occurred on June 9, near the town of Reddick — a tiny town some 90 miles northwest of Orlando.

In the immediate aftermath of the shocking incident, law enforcement offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

By June 17, the assailant was in custody.

The sheriff offered a lengthy statement taking stock of the case:

I told everyone last week that we would find the person responsible, and we have. I’m very proud of the hard work that my detectives and forensics team have done on this case to bring about a quick closure. This type of unimaginable violence is still shocking to me after all of my years in law enforcement. The Reddick community has shown its resilience and support for us and their community through all of this. I also want to thank all of the citizens that sent in tips and leads in this case. It came as a shock that any individual would commit such an act on a 91-year-old, but it is truly disturbing when we see the young age of the arrestee. Although I firmly believe he should be held accountable for his crime, as a father, my compassion goes out to his family. Hopefully his arrest will lead to getting him help that prevents any further such acts.

A neighbor of the victim provided law enforcement with videos of Stone, the sheriff’s office said, according to Tampa-based NBC affiliate WFLA. Then, the neighbor saw the teenager riding his bike — wearing the same clothes he had on the night of the attack.

Investigators said they used DNA evidence and results from a rape kit to confirm Stone was, in fact, the culprit responsible for the crime.

“It’s a very meticulous, tedious process, but a lot of agencies don’t have that resource,” Marion County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Paul Bloom told the TV station. “A lot of their DNA is sent off and the results take a long time. We don’t want that. We don’t want time with this person out there to potentially attack another victim.”

During a subsequent interview with law enforcement, Stone allegedly admitted to breaking in, punching, and groping the woman.

The teenager was charged as an adult with one count each of sexual assault by someone under 18 years toward a victim over the age of 12 and burglary of a dwelling with battery, court records show.

He originally pleaded not guilty — but changed his plea on Nov. 7 before Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon.

Stone’s sentencing hearing is slated for Dec. 19.

Jesse Stone Sentencing

A 14-year-old boy accused of attacking and raping a 91-year-old woman in her bed has received a lengthy prison sentence in Florida. Jesse Stone was prosecuted as an adult and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of sexual battery and burglary of a dwelling with battery on Feb. 7, according to records filed in Marion County

Stone’s attorney declined to comment on the case to McClatchy News. The home invasion and rape of the 91-year-old shook the small town of Reddick, with a population of fewer than 500 people, and Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the attacker. To many people’s surprise, the accused perpetrator was 14. The evening of June 8, the woman reported she woke up to see a “dark shadow” hunched over and coming down the hall toward her bedroom, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Marion County.

Then the person jumped on her in bed, and she tried to fight him as he repeatedly punched her in the face, McClatchy News reported. She said she prayed to God for help, but her attacker told her to shut up before he tore off her underwear and sexually assaulted her, according to deputies. He eventually ran out of the house, leaving the woman with no clear description of her attacker in the dark, deputies said. When investigators arrived at a hospital to interview her, they said they found her in a cervical collar with bruises on her arms and her face, which was still bloody.

The woman said the day before the attack, a “neighborhood youth,” later identified as Jesse Stone, stopped by and had a conversation with her, deputies said. She described him as a “good” boy and said it had been awhile since he had come by, according to the report. Law enforcement began canvassing the area the day after the incident when Stone rode up to them on his bike and said his neighbor had something to show them, deputies said. On the neighbor’s surveillance video from the night of the break-in, a person is seen jogging wearing clothes similar to the ones Jesse Stone was wearing when he approached the deputies, according to investigators. They got permission from Stone’s grandmother, who was his guardian, to take DNA swabs, which came back as a match for DNA found on the woman’s underwear, deputies said.

He was taken into custody at his high school and told investigators he had entered the woman’s home and watched pornography on her iPad, then he assaulted her in the bedroom, deputies said. Jesse Stone initially pleaded not guilty to the charges before changing his plea in November, records show. He turned 15 in December. His attorney, Jonathan Mills, urged the judge for leniency, WOFL reported. “Mr. Stone had no criminal history,” the attorney said, according to the outlet. “His brain was nowhere near fully developed … and is still probably 10 years off from that being the case.”

According to Stone’s family and his attorney, the teen had a difficult upbringing without his parents’ involvement, and he developed a pornography addiction, WFTV reported. Reddick is about a 14-mile drive north from Ocala.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article299948284.html#storylink=cpy

Brianna Moore Murders Newborn

Brianna Moore
Brianna Moore

Brianna Moore is an alleged teen killer from Florida who has been charged with the murder of her newborn

According to police reports Brianna Moore gave birth on the campus of the University of Tampa and would then dispose of the newborn. Her roommates would call campus security and report that they had heard a baby crying. When security showed up they reported finding blood in the bathroom however Brianna would tell them that it was from her period

The next day the discovery of a newborn in a trash bag would be discovered and reported to police. Brianna Moore would tell police that she did not know she was pregnant when she suddenly gave birth to the newborn. She claimed the newborn cried once then went quiet and when she checked for a pulse several minutes later she did not find one and disposed of the newborn

An autopsy of the newborn would reveal several cracked ribs and a lung hemorrhage. Brianna Moore would tell police she held the newborn tightly until it stopped crying.

Brianna Moore would be charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, child neglect with great bodily harm, failure to report a death, and unlawful storage and preservation of human remains

Brianna Moore News

The former University of Tampa student accused of killing her newborn child will be able to leave jail if she posts bonds of $262,500, a judge decided Friday.

After an hourlong court hearing, Hillsborough Chief Judge Christopher Sabella denied a request from prosecutors that Brianna L. Moore be held in jail while she awaits trial.

While noting that Moore is accused of a dangerous crime, the judge found that the state had not proven that she poses a danger to the community or that she was a flight risk.

“This is a very difficult case,” Sabella said. “It’s difficult because of how sad this case is and how egregious this case is.”

The judge ordered that if Moore bonds out of jail, she must remain in Hillsborough County while she awaits trial. She must wear a GPS ankle monitor so authorities can track her movements

A prosecutor mentioned that the 19-year-old was expelled from the university after the baby’s death in April, but a university spokesperson later clarified that she wasn’t expelled, but did not reenroll. Although she lives in Mississippi and has no ties to Tampa, the judge said her defense can ask permission from a different judge for her to return home

She is accused of aggravated manslaughter and other charges related to the baby girl’s death.

Brianna Moore shuffled into court with chains at her wrists and ankles, her long hair draping a red uniform emblazoned with the words “Hillsborough County Jail.” She gazed down through eyeglasses, avoiding the attention of news cameras as sheriff’s deputies escorted her to a defense table.

She sat quietly beside a public defender as Assistant State Attorney Lindsey Hodges presented testimony from Tampa police Detective Juan Ramos about the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s birth and death.

Brianna Moore attended the university on a biology scholarship. She lived at the time in a room in McKay Hall, with a view of downtown Tampa and the Hillsborough River. She shared her room with another student. They shared a bathroom with two other young women in an adjacent room.

Campus security officers came to the dorm the afternoon of April 27. The three women all reported that they’d heard what sounded like a baby crying in their bathroom between 7 and 9 a.m. At least one of the women said she wasn’t sure if the noise was something she heard in a dream. Someone else said they wondered if it was noise from a video or social media post being played.

“That baby was born alive,” Hodges told the judge. “That baby was breathing. She cried loud enough and long enough for the suite mates and roommates to be awoken by it.”

One of the women got up at about 8 a.m. to get ready for work, court records state. She tried twice to get in the bathroom, but the door was locked. The second time, she heard Moore call out “sorry.”

Shortly thereafter, Moore’s roommate went into the bathroom and saw blood on the floor. The sight was so alarming she took a video of it and sent it to their suite mates.

Two of the women would tell campus security officers that they had suspected for two or three months that Brianna Moore might be pregnant, according to court records. Her roommate sent Moore a text message, asking if she was OK. Moore replied that she was just having a heavy menstruation, the records state, and “wasn’t feeling good this morning.”

They told campus police they were concerned a baby might have been born. Officers searched the area around McKay Hall but found nothing.

The next day, Moore’s roommate was with a friend in the dorm room when they noticed a bloody towel in a trash can, the records state. The friend used a Styrofoam container to touch the towel and felt something hard inside it. The friend then removed the trash bag from the can and brought it outside to look for campus security.

When officers arrived, they opened the bag and found the newborn dead.

Tampa police later interviewed Brianna Moore. She admitted she’d lied to the security officers the previous day, according to court records. She described the child’s birth in detail, the records state. She said she woke up feeling unwell, went to the bathroom and was surprised to find that she was pregnant and in labor. She said she may have been in denial.

She delivered the baby on the bathroom floor. She told detectives she cut the umbilical cord with one of her fingernails.

As the baby cried, she held her tight against her chest, the records state. When the crying stopped, she said she placed the child on a towel.

She took a shower and afterward touched the baby’s chest. She felt no heartbeat. She washed the child, then wrapped her in a towel. She went back into her room, laid the bundle on the floor and went to sleep.

About an hour later, she got up and checked the baby again. She rewrapped her body and placed it in the trash.

A medical examiner found the child had multiple rib fractures along her spine, according to court records. Her cause of death was deemed to be asphyxia. The manner of death was homicide.

In court, Ramos said it would have taken between 45 seconds and four minutes for the baby to die. He said Moore was inconsistent about how long she said she held the child.

Brianna Moore was arrested Oct. 18 in Mississippi and was extradited to Tampa this week.

A future court date has not been set.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2024/11/01/university-of-tampa-baby-death-arrest-brianna-moore-ut

Channel Yonko Murders Toddler In Texas

Channel Yonko
Channel Yonko

Channel Yonko is an accused killer from Texas who is charged with capital murder of her seventeen month old daughter Hannah Yonko

According to police reports officers were called to a disturbing scene outside of a hotel in Galveston Texas where they would find seventeen month old Hannah Yonko on the sidewalk. The little girl was rushed to the hospital where she would pass from her injuries

Police would soon learn that the child was allegedly thrown from the third floor balcony of the Beachfront Palms Hotel by her mother Channel Yonko. Surveillance cameras would capture the moment Hannah Yonko fell from the balcony

The sister of Channel Yonko would tell police that her sister was pushing a stroller however Hannah did not appear to be in it

An immediate examination of Hannah Yonko would show injuries consistent from a fall and also a number of puncture wounds to the seventeen month’s old back

Police would find a garbage bag containing a hotel key and a knife nearby

Channel Yonko would be arrested and has been charged with capital murder

Channel Yonko News

Galveston homicide detectives returned to a hotel Thursday as they continued their investigation into the death of 17-month-old Hannah Yonko.

Channel Yonko, 30, of Houston, remains jailed without bond on capital murder charges in her daughter’s death.

Court documents reveal heartbreaking new details about the final hours of the toddler found on 59th Street next to the Kroger on Seawall Boulevard Wednesday morning. When officers arrived, they found Hannah unresponsive and bleeding. She died at the hospital.

According to the Galveston Police Department, Yonko intentionally threw her daughter from the third-floor balcony of the Beachfront Palms Hotel. Surveillance video from the Beachfront Palms Hotel captured the moment the baby could be seen falling.

Investigators say Hannah had injuries consistent with a fall and several puncture wounds in her back. A trash bag containing a knife and hotel room key were found nearby. The bag found in the hotel’s parking garage also contained plastic sand toys, unused diapers, and unopened kids’ snacks.

“This is a horrible crime. All children deserve to feel safe when around loved ones, especially with their own mother,” GPD Chief Doug Balli said. “The Galveston Police Department is committed to bringing justice for Hannah and ensuring the safety of all children in our community.”

Investigators said they interviewed the suspect’s sister at the police department. She told them that she, her sister and her niece were sharing a room at The Beachfront Palms Hotel.

The sister told investigators that Channel Yonko had come to Galveston to visit her. On Wednesday morning, they began checking out of the motel. The sister left to meet her fiancé at The Victorian Hotel and left her sister and niece at the Beachfront Palms Hotel.

The sister said Channel Yonko eventually showed up at The Victorian pushing a stroller. The sister told them she didn’t see Hannah in the stroller, but had no reason to believe she was not in it.

The sister told Channel Yonko that she could not find her fiancé and that they should just go back to their hotel room to pick up their luggage. That is when Channel Yonko told her not to go back to their room.

Balli said witnesses and surveillance video led them to quickly identify Yonko as the suspect. She was arrested at a nearby restaurant.

We’ve learned Yonko has a history with the Department of Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigates child abuse and neglect cases. They couldn’t release any details.

Strangers gathered Wednesday night at a vigil for the pretty baby girl with the big brown eyes.

On Thursday, a memorial filled with stuffed animals, flowers and candles continued to grow near the scene where Hannah was found.

Michael and Katie Harris felt compelled to stop and pray for the child.

“We know this baby girl went to heaven, Lord,” Michael said as the couple prayed. “We just want to pray over this child, Lord – and honestly praying for her mother.”

They don’t understand how an innocent child could die such a horrible death.

“I just can’t imagine – like, I don’t know man – just feel really sorry for the baby,” Michael told us.

Neil Debran, of Texas City, also stopped to pay tribute to Hannah.

“At my age, I’ve seen things like this happen before, but for some reason, this one didn’t sit right with me,” he said. “I figured I’d come down and pay my respects, you know?”

Pediatric nurse Jasmin Hernandez told us Hannah was on her mind all night at work.

“I see stories like this, cases like this all the time,” she said.

The memorial was her first stop after clocking out.

“Put some flowers there and a little doll there just so she knows that we all love her,” Hernandez said.

Another woman who stopped by appeared to be a family member, but she declined an interview.

https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/baby-found-in-galveston-texas-kroger-seawall-boulevard/285-c87abc1f-fe2b-42a1-bcd0-447237fb5352

Christian Gasca Martinez Murders Osvaldo Casas

Christian Gasca Martinez

Christian Gasca Martinez is a teen killer from Texas who has been charged with the murder of Osvaldo Casas

According to police reports Christian Gasca Martinez had been stalking Osvaldo Casas sixteen year old stepdaughter who had rebuffed the seventeen year olds advances earlier

Christian Gasca Martinez would allegedly fatally shoot Osvaldo Casas after he confronted the teen killer on the street

Christian Gasca Martinez has been charged with murder

Christian Gasca Martinez News

A 17-year-old boy in Texas is being charged as an adult after he allegedly murdered the stepfather of the girl he started stalking because she rebuffed his advances.

The Houston Police Department on Friday announced detectives arrested Cristian Gasca Martinez for murder in the death of 37-year-old Osvaldo Casas. Gasca Martinez allegedly shot Casas shortly before 12:30 a.m. Aug. 10 in the 600 block of Loper Street in southeast Houston. Cops responded to the scene and found Casas suffering from several gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead on scene.

Police said at the time that Casas confronted a “suspicious” person on his street before the shooting. Further investigation determined that Gasca Martinez had been pursuing a romantic relationship with Casas’ 16-year-old stepdaughter, but the girl told him she was not interested, a complaint says. Gasca Martinez allegedly began stalking the girl. He kept calling the girl despite her asking him to refrain from doing so and she had to block his number, according to a courtroom report from local CBS affiliate KHOU.

The Houston Police Department on Friday announced detectives arrested Cristian Gasca Martinez for murder in the death of 37-year-old Osvaldo Casas. Gasca Martinez allegedly shot Casas shortly before 12:30 a.m. Aug. 10 in the 600 block of Loper Street in southeast Houston. Cops responded to the scene and found Casas suffering from several gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead on scene.

Police said at the time that Casas confronted a “suspicious” person on his street before the shooting. Further investigation determined that Christian Gasca Martinez had been pursuing a romantic relationship with Casas’ 16-year-old stepdaughter, but the girl told him she was not interested, a complaint says. Gasca Martinez allegedly began stalking the girl. He kept calling the girl despite her asking him to refrain from doing so and she had to block his number, according to a courtroom report from local CBS affiliate KHOU.

He also reportedly posted threats on social media that included posting photos of him holding a gun. Gasca Martinez then shot Casas “in retaliation for being rejected” by the girl, the complaint said.

In a GoFundMe page, the victim’s wife Judith Molina said her husband died “while bravely protecting our family.” Making matters even more tragic was the fact that Molina and Casas were expecting a baby boy. Casas’ family laid him to rest on Aug. 20. Three days later, Molina gave birth to a baby boy.

“Osvaldo was overjoyed at the thought of meeting his baby boy and becoming a father to a son,” she wrote

She described her husband as “a man of deep love and kindness.”

“He was loved by so many in our community and never hesitated to lend a helping hand,” Molina said, adding he was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan.

A judge set Gasca Martinez’s bond at $200,000. Cops arrested him Thursday and took him to the Harris County Jail where he remains.

Molina told KHOU she was pleased the suspect has been arrested.

“I know the arrest isn’t going to bring him back, but I’m happy he was arrested,” she said.

Robert Roberson Execution Scheduled For 10/17/24

Robert Roberson
Robert Roberson

The State of Texas is getting ready to execute Robert Roberson on Thursday, October 17 2024 for the murder of his two year old daughter Nikki back in 2002

According to court documents Robert Roberson would bring his daughter to an emergency room in Palestine Texas and the nurses and doctors immediately believed that the toddler was a victim of abuse due to bruising on her body. The doctors would declare that the little girl died from shaken baby syndrome.

Police would then say that Robert Roberson lack of reaction proved that he had murdered the child. Roberson who is autistic would be arrested and charged with murder

Robert Roberson would be convicted and sentenced to death

Since then Roberson lawyers have said that the shaken baby syndrome was a misdiagnosis and that Nikki Roberson died from sepsis caused from double pneumonia on top of the effects of medications which were later considered to be unfit to give to a young child

So far all efforts from Robert Roberson lawyers have had little effect and Texas is planning on executing Roberson by lethal injection on Thursday

Update – Robert Roberson execution was called off ninety minutes before he was scheduled to be executed as a judge wanted to review the case further

Robert Roberson Execution News

Texas this week plans to execute Robert Roberson, whose attorneys say was wrongfully convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter more than 20 years ago.

His advocates contend Roberson’s sickly toddler, Nikki Curtis, died of double pneumonia that had progressed to sepsis, her illness further exacerbated by a combination of medicines now seen as unsuitable for children.

But when Roberson took Nikki to a hospital, doctors and nurses immediately diagnosed her with suspected abuse based on bruises and injuries to Nikki’s head, including severe brain swelling and bleeding in her brain and at the back of her eyes, court documents show.

The inmate’s attorneys call that a misdiagnosis – and also discredit shaken baby syndrome on its face, despite broad consensus among pediatricians it is legitimate.

The lawyers say, too, Roberson’s behavior in the hospital was misjudged. His strange, “flat” demeanor, then viewed by medical staff and police as evidence of his guilt, was a manifestation of Roberson’s autism, which went undiagnosed until 2018.

“It wasn’t a crime committed,” Roberson, 57, told CNN about a week before his scheduled lethal injection. “I was falsely, wrongly convicted of a crime – they said it was a crime, but it wasn’t no crime and stuff because I had a sick little girl, you know?”

Still, Texas intends to kill Roberson on Thursday in what his attorneys say would make him the first person in the United States executed on a shaken baby syndrome-based conviction as the diagnosis comes under increasing scrutiny in US courts.

His innocence claim also highlights an inherent risk of capital punishment: a potentially innocent person could be put to death. At least 200 people – 18 in Texas – have been exonerated since 1973 after being convicted and sentenced to die, the Death Penalty Information Center finds.

Among advocates for Roberson are the Innocence Project, autism advocacy groups concerned about the role his disability may have played in his conviction, a bipartisan group of more than 80 Texas legislators and the famous courtroom thriller author John Grisham.

Also in Roberson’s corner is Brian Wharton, a former Palestine, Texas, detective who regrets his part in what he now feels was a too-narrowly focused investigation into Nikki’s death. The shaken baby syndrome diagnosis from doctors and nurses, their emotional response to Nikki’s condition and Roberson’s odd reaction all stacked against the then-suspect, said Wharton.

“Those two things are playing against each other – the emotional upheaval of the ER staff alongside the father who is just there,” he told CNN. “And then when you add to that this accusation of shaken baby syndrome, that affirms for you all the emotions you had in the ER and makes that flat affect much more suspect.”

“The investigative or the suspicious mind takes over and leads the investigation,” he said. “Very early on, Robert was the focus of everything to the exclusion of any other possibilities.”

Roberson’s attorneys are not disputing that babies can and do die from being shaken. But they contend that more benign explanations, including illness, can mimic the symptoms of shaking, and those alternative explanations should be ruled out before a medical expert testifies to a certainty that the cause of death was abuse.

Shaken baby syndrome is accepted as a valid diagnosis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and supported by child abuse pediatricians who spoke with CNN. The condition, first described in the mid-1970s, has for the past 15 or so years been considered a type of “abusive head trauma” – a broader term used to reflect actions other than shaking, like an impact to a child’s head.

Abusive head trauma generally occurs when a frustrated parent or caregiver violently shakes a child and/or causes a blunt impact injury, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others say. It is the leading cause of child abuse deaths in children under age 5, the CDC says.

“There really is not a controversy in medicine about the existence of abusive head trauma. The science behind it is really quite clear,” former American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Lee Savio Beers told CNN for a 2021 report on how abusive head trauma cases are not coming to trial due to unsubstantiated defense claims.

However, the decision around 2009 to refer to what had been known as shaken baby syndrome as abusive head trauma was “misinterpreted” by some in legal and medical circles as an indication of “doubt in” or “invalidation” of the diagnosis of the injury itself, the American Association of Pediatrics acknowledged in 2020. The group “continues to affirm the dangers and harms of shaking infants, continues to embrace the ‘shaken baby syndrome’ diagnosis as a valid subset of the (abusive head trauma) diagnosis, and encourages pediatric practitioners to educate community stakeholders when necessary,” it added.

Criminal defense lawyers also have oversimplified how doctors diagnose abusive head trauma, child abuse pediatricians say, noting many factors are considered to determine it.

The landscape has fueled a fierce debate now playing out at the intersection of medicine and the law – with Robert Roberson’s case at center stage this week.

“The conclusion is simply (Nikki) was a victim of abusive head trauma. Unequivocally,” Dr. Sandeep Narang, a child abuse pediatrician and a lawyer, said Tuesday after he was asked by a supporter of Roberson’s defense to review trial testimony in the case.

“I thought there (was a) reasonable basis, clear, reasonable basis to find this conviction,” Narang told CNN. “And I thought this case represented a high probability of abusive head trauma, given all the total findings in this case.”

Meanwhile, courts in at least 17 states and the US Army since 1992 have exonerated 32 people convicted in shaken baby syndrome cases, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Just this month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial for a man sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of injury to a child in a case that also relied on a shaken baby syndrome argument. In its ruling, the court wrote “scientific knowledge has evolved regarding SBS.”

While Robert Roberson’s conviction has been upheld on appeal, his attorneys continue to pursue that remedy. They’re due Tuesday in court to argue yet another aspect of Roberson’s case, they say, claiming the judge who scheduled his execution did not have appropriate jurisdiction and so the death warrant should be void.

They’ve also petitioned the Texas Pardons and Parole Board and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for clemency, asking for Roberson’s punishment to be commuted to a lesser sentence or he be granted a 180-day reprieve to allow time for his appeals to be argued in court.

The Anderson County District Attorney did not respond to CNN’s requests for an interview.
The death of Nikki Curtis

Robert Roberson was charged with capital murder on February 1, 2002, one day after he took Nikki to a hospital in Palestine, Texas. She wasn’t breathing, and her skin was blue.

Due to Nikki’s injuries, medical personnel were soon suspicious, and a nurse called police. Nikki, meanwhile, was flown via helicopter to a children’s hospital in Dallas, where she was later taken off life support and died.

Robert Roberson, who has three other children, had gotten custody of Nikki just two months earlier. He had learned of her only after her birth, and she spent most of her life in the custody of her maternal grandparents, who eventually agreed Roberson should have custody, court records show.

Robert Roberson told investigators he had picked the toddler up on January 30, 2002, from her maternal grandparents’ house, taken her home, put on a movie and gone to sleep in the same bed as her, the complaint against him says. They were alone.

Robert Roberson says he woke in the night to Nikki’s cries and found she had fallen 1 to 2 feet off the bed to the floor. He saw blood on her lips and a bruise under her chin, he told police per the complaint, and wiped the blood away with a washcloth. He kept her up for two hours to make sure she was OK, he said, and they eventually fell back asleep. When Roberson got up in the morning, Nikki was unresponsive, he said.

“I carried her to the hospital and stuff, you know,” he told CNN last week. “I didn’t have nothing to hide.”

A pediatrician specializing in child maltreatment at the hospital in Dallas told police Nikki was a victim of abuse. The girl’s injuries were “indicative of a shaken impact syndrome,” Dr. Janet Squires wrote in an affidavit. The Dallas County medical examiner who performed Nikki’s autopsy determined she died of blunt force head injuries and ruled the manner of death a homicide.

At trial, the state called 12 witnesses, court records show. They included Squires, who testified CT scans showed Nikki’s brain was swollen and there was blood under her skull and behind her eyes. The injuries, Squires said, could not have been explained by a “simple impact,” dismissing Roberson’s explanation about the girl’s fall off the bed.

“It’s a very violent forceful act,” she said of the shaking that would have caused Nikki’s injuries, noting it was rare for shaken baby syndrome to be diagnosed after a single, isolated instance and more likely to follow a pattern of abuse. Squires did not find evidence of old injuries, such as fractures or blood, she testified; she was not asked nor did she address whether such a pattern of abuse may have been a factor in Nikki’s case.

“It is not something that ever happens accidentally,” Squires testified. She did not respond to CNN’s requests in early October for an interview.

Narang, the child abuse pediatrician and lawyer, further pointed to trial testimony of the 11-year-old niece and 10-year-old daughter of Roberson’s then-girlfriend, both of whom said they had seen him shake Nikki on previous occasions – and the girlfriend’s claim Roberson waited to take Nikki to the hospital.

Robert Roberson has denied the girls had seen him shake Nikki and attributed the delay to his being in a state of shock and dressing Nikki before taking her for help.

“I couldn’t be specific in telling you whether it was the child’s head impacting another object or surface or whether it was the defendant’s hand or leg or something else hitting the child’s head,” added Narang, who reviewed the case in light of today’s science. “But there were signs of impact about this child’s head in multiple different locations.”

Nikki’s maternal grandfather, Larry Bowman, declined to comment to CNN except to say, “We don’t want nothing to do with it. We have left it up to the Lord and the law.”
Doctors’ approach was skewed, defense lawyers say

Robert Roberson’s attorneys have disputed the idea Nikki was a victim of shaken baby syndrome, pointing in part to a 2001 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics they say unfairly skewed how Nikki’s doctors viewed the situation: “Although physical abuse in the past has been a diagnosis of exclusion,” it reads in part, “data regarding the nature and frequency of head trauma consistently support the need for a presumption of child abuse when a child younger than 1 year has suffered an intracranial injury.”

According to Roberson’s advocates, this “presumption” language led the doctors treating Nikki to conclude Roberson had abused her without considering other possibilities.

There are other explanations, too, Roberson’s attorneys claim, for why the toddler was hurt.

Nikki – who was plagued with health problems requiring frequent doctor visits in her young life, court records show – was fighting an upper respiratory infection in the days before her death. Two days earlier, she had visited the emergency room with a 104.5-degree fever, court records show.

Nikki was also prescribed both promethazine and codeine. Both would have further hindered her ability to breathe, Roberson’s team contends, causing hypoxia, which they claim can cause the brain to swell and the same bleeding beneath the skull. Those medications are now seen as inappropriate for someone Nikki’s age and in her condition, Roberson’s attorneys say.

Taken together, the illness, her prescriptions and her alleged fall off the bed would explain Nikki’s symptoms, Roberson’s proponents claim.
‘There’s no controversy in the medical field’

Driving home the lack of unanimity within medical and scientific circles over abusive head trauma is a letter included with Roberson’s clemency petition from 34 scientists and doctors across disciplines and institutions who voice support for the arguments of the inmate’s attorneys.

Another group that has taken up his innocence claim – the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences – also raised this issue in a June filing in the case to the US Supreme Court:

“It is an expert’s opinion, not simply objective fact, that leads to the accusation and often to the conviction in a case involving an allegation of shaken baby syndrome,” Kate Judson, the center’s executive director, said last month at a news conference.

“The physician is the one who decides that there was a crime, who committed the crime, and testifies about the person’s mental state,” she said. “There really aren’t other parallels in the law where we allow that, and it’s allowed here.”

However, the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Child Abuse and Neglect asserted without caveat: Abusive head trauma “is real.”

“I don’t know what to say about the legal controversy,” Dr. Antoinette Laskey told CNN. “This is real, it affects children, it affects families … I want to help children; I don’t want to diagnose abuse: That’s a bad day.”

As to claims of exonerations in shaken baby syndrome cases, Laskey pointed to a 2021 paper authored by Narang and others that found just 3% of all such convictions between 2008 and 2018 were overturned, and only 1% of them were overturned because of medical evidence.

Indeed, the only time abusive head trauma is referred to as “junk science” is “in the legal arena,” said Laskey, who was not familiar with Roberson’s case and did not speak to it.

“There’s no controversy in the medical field that takes care of children,” she said, struggling with the idea families impacted by abusive head trauma – whose children had been injured or killed – would be told “their reality is not reality.”
‘We’re seeking a conviction … but we are not seeking justice’

As the days tick down, Roberson is “trying to keep hope alive, each and every day” that he’ll eventually leave death row. He would get a job, he told CNN, and would like to attend ministry school.

And he’d like to visit Nikki’s grave, wherever it is – he’s never been told.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead in the future, planning too much,” he said. “It’s good to plan, you know … I don’t want to get too far in the future, but I’m still hanging onto hope one day, I’ll be able to do that.”

In the meantime, Roberson holds no ill will, he said, toward the people who put him behind bars, including Wharton, the detective.

“Unforgiveness is only going to hurt us, you know? That don’t mean I don’t like what they did to me,” Roberson said, also referring to the district attorney. “But, no, I don’t hate them, I don’t have no anger against them, you know. And one day I’m hoping and praying they would do the right thing.”

Wharton eventually left policing and went into ministry. But the Roberson case stayed with him: He was comfortable with the conviction, he said, but never the death penalty. Over the years, he checked the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website to see if Roberson was still there, reassuring himself someone was still working on his appeals.

When Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, showed up six or eight years ago on Wharton’s doorstep and asked to speak with him about the case, he did, saying he “halfway expected somebody to show up.”

Now, Wharton is sure Roberson’s life should be spared, and he bemoans what he feels is a “pride” within the justice system resistant to acknowledging a mistake. Without shaken baby syndrome, he said, “there’s nothing that’s chargeable here.

He was doing what a father should do,” Wharton said. “He was doing his best with his limited resources to get his child treated, care for her, and it just fell apart.

“Justice is more than simply law enforcement … We are not dispensers of justice. Justice is something that’s much bigger than us and beyond us, that we are always seeking justice. And it just felt like that’s not what’s happening here. We’re seeking a conviction. We’re seeking to put someone in prison or on death row, but we are not seeking justice.”

Earlier this year, Wharton visited Roberson for the first time and asked for his forgiveness, which the inmate granted in a New York Times Op-Ed video. The moment, Wharton said, was hard to describe.

“It’s wonderful to receive his forgiveness,” Wharton said. “But if the state continues on this course and kills him, I will know within myself somehow that he forgave me, but I can’t forgive myself. (He’ll be) dead as a consequence of the work I did.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/13/us/robert-roberson-execution-shaken-baby-syndrome/index.html