Robert Roberson granted stay of execution one week before it was scheduled

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Robert Roberson on Thursday morning.

The order was issued one week before Roberson's execution was scheduled at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville. Roberson was sentenced to death after he was convicted of capital murder in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.

Roberson's defense contends that he has spent 22 years on death row as an innocent man.

His legal team has argued that Nikki was misdiagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. Testimony from medical experts cited by the defense suggests that the child died from severe viral and bacterial pneumonia, exacerbated by prescribed dangerous medications, rather than abuse.

"Robert adored Nikki, whose death was a tragedy, a horror compounded by Robert's wrongf