A former detective who helped convict a death row child killer now regrets the direction the 2003 investigation took and even visited Texas ' death row recently to apologize to the man in person.
Robert Roberson III was sentenced to death after he was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis, shaking her to death at his home in Palestine, Texas, a small city about 110 miles southeast of Dallas and Fort Worth.
The 57-year-old allegedly carried her limp body to the hospital and told hospital staff that he had found her unconscious after falling off the bed in which both of them had been sleeping.
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Nikki Roberson was described as a "very sick" child, it was reported, who had just been taken to the hospital the week prior after falling ill. It wasn't clear what her symptoms were, but the emergency room staff reportedly prescribed her Phenergan and sent her home.
Phenergan is both an antihistamine and sedative used to treat allergies, insomnia and nausea. The girl's condition didn't improve, so the hospital prescribed her more Phenergan as well as some codeine, an opioid that's now banned for children under 18. Phenergan is also now labeled with a warning cautioning medical providers from prescribing it to children as young as Nikki.
The following night, she reportedly went to sleep next to her father, who then woke up to find her unconscious. He had been on parole at the time of his daughter's death and was previously convicted of burglary, theft and parole violations.
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Robert had been given custody of Nikii by her maternal grandparents after her mother, who remains unnamed, was denied custody in the hospital shortly after the girl's birth. Several women testified against Robert during the trial, telling the jury that they'd seen him shake and "spank" Nikki when she cried. His girlfriend, her daughter and her niece all testified to that effect, the Daily Mail reported.
Teddie Cox, the girlfriend, went on to testify that Robert had a bad temper. Her niece, Courtney Berryhill, also testified that she witnessed Robert shaking Nikki. Rachel, Teddie's daughter, said she saw Robert spank her and shake her and also threaten to kill her.
When Rev. Brian Wharton, the then-chief detective of the Palestine Police Department, interviewed Robert in the hospital after he had brought his daughter in unconscious, he said the man appeared emotionless, completely unbothered by the fact that his daughter seemed to be dying.
Wharton now chalks that behavior up to the man's autism, which hadn't been diagnosed at the time. He said he was visited by Robert's lawyer one day after retiring from the police force and entering the ministry and that she told him about that fact, and they began working together to help get Robert a new trial.
Part of the contentious evidence was that Nikki's cause of death was listed as shaken baby syndrome, which has since been debunked as a valid cause of death, with even the doctor who coined the term admitting that it was being used to imprison innocent people.
But at the time, back in 2003, SBS was a valid cause of death — and with that being classified as Nikki's cause of death, Wharton said in the video he made with The New York Times that there was only one possibility of who could have killed Nikki: her father.
So, Robert was arrested, tried and convicted and then sentenced to death. He's been on death row ever since, and his execution is scheduled for Oct. 17 — just a few months from now.
Wharton said he's "never been able to forget Robert Roberson" and that the case has "been a burden" on his "heart and spirit." He told Robert during their conversation in a Texas prison, "Let me just say, I am so sorry that you're here and so sorry that you're still here. It's our failure."
He added, "You have never been far from me, and I'm convinced that we did the wrong thing." Wharton explained later in the video that he believes some of the medical issues Nikki was experiencing may be to blame for her death, not SBS, and that such a possibility should be strong enough to warrant a new trial.
He said he beats himself up for not considering other possibilities for Nikki's cause of death, adding that he and the police "followed the easiest path" and that it wasn't necessarily right.
Robert replied to Wharton, saying, "I think if it would have been properly investigated more, we wouldn't be sitting here now, probably. It was bad enough losing her, right? I would do anything now to bring her back."
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