PALESTINE, Texas (KETK) – After the state stopped another attempt to execute a Palestinian man, the family of the 2-year-old boy he was convicted of murdering shares their story.

Matthew Bowman was 4 years old when he was told to sit down for a family gathering at his home in Palestine. It was there that she learned that her sister and lifelong best friend, Nikki Curtis, who was 2 at the time, “wasn’t coming back.”

That was in 2002, shortly after Nikki was taken off life support and her father, Robert Roberson, was arrested for her murder. After some unprecedented maneuvering by a Texas House committee, Roberson’s execution scheduled for October 17 was stayed. That’s what prompted Nikki’s family to find a place to tell their side of the story.

Texas was about to execute Robert Roberson. Then a last-minute tactic bought him more time.

Bowman sat down with KETK News on Tuesday for an interview in Rep. Cody Harris’ Palestine office, just days after Harris filed an amicus brief in support of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s efforts in the Roberson case. Bowman told Nikki’s story from her family’s point of view, recounting fond and painful memories as she continues to deal with the pain of losing her best friend.

“I remember playing with my sister a lot, doing a lot of things with her, not seeing Robert too much,” Bowman said. “My dad kept me at home when it came to that, when it came to any kind of (interactions) with him.”

Bowman has memories of playing with Nikki, writing their names in cement, hiding in cabinets, and being kids together.

“That was my best friend,” Matthew said of Nikki. “No one else was there to help me when they took her, I was alone and that was it. I didn’t have anyone to talk to, I didn’t have anyone to grow up with, go to school with, play sports with, or meet my kids. “She didn’t get to have any of that.”

Raised by his grandparents, Bowman said Nikki’s mother didn’t have much of a relationship with them when they were children. Roberson, Nikki’s father, was granted custody of Nikki in November 2001.

At the time, Roberson was working on paper delivery routes through Palestine. He had a past marked by nonviolent crimes, with a history of pleading guilty and serving time for several local crimes, including writing bad checks, burglary of a home, and violating probation.

Since Roberson’s conviction for capital murder in 2003, his case has been subject to appeal after appeal. Death row inmates are not executed until they have exhausted all possible appeals, so as long as there is an appeal pending in court, Roberson lives.

Texas House continues hearing on Robert Roberson case, without his testimony

The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee issued a last-minute subpoena to Roberson on the same day as his execution, an unprecedented aspect of the case that required his presence in the capital days later. The Texas Supreme Court pardoned Roberson, citing concerns that the subpoena created a problem with the separation of powers in Texas government.

“It always comes back,” Bowman said. “We are still constantly reliving the nightmare we went through in 2002, and now I am 26 years old, about to turn 27 and I still go to court. I’m still going to appeals, I’m still going to evidentiary hearings that they say never happened. “This man has exhausted everything.”

Roberson’s lawyers argue that he was convicted of shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis now made only in the absence of other plausible medical causes. Citing an autopsy performed in Dallas, they argue that those other plausible medical causes were not fully considered when determining Nikki’s manner of death.

“She was playful, she was always happy, she didn’t have to get into a lot of trouble, my dad said she rarely got into trouble, she always learned from me, she was very smart,” Bowman said. “She was a great sister and a great baby and people need to know that she wasn’t that sick. “She was an incredible, incredible friend.”

EXCLUSIVE: Nikki Curtis’ family breaks silence on Roberson hearings

Referring to arguments that Nikki did not die from abuse inflicted by her father, but from complications of severe pneumonia that proved fatal after a brief fall from bed, Bowman insisted that Nikki was not a sickly child.

“All I’ve seen them do is try to blame her because she was a sick baby and she was never playful, that’s basically what they make her out to be, and that’s far from the truth,” Bowman said. “This baby played with me all the time. There are several photos from when she was born until he had her, and they all have her smiling and running around the house, or playing with my things or my skates. “

Bowman recalled being present at a 2021 hearing where he said new evidence was presented. He said he attended the hearing with an open mind and discovered nothing that would change his opinion of Roberson’s guilt.

“That new evidence they had back then with the shaken baby syndrome, then they went to the medication, it was an overdose. “Now they say the hospital did it, that it was pneumonia that killed her,” Bowman said. “I’m sorry but my children have had pneumonia, my children have had colds. None of it left bruises on their faces. And none of that made their brains swell against their skulls and render them lifeless.”

Robert Roberson’s brother maintains his innocence with new letter

Bowman encouraged people to find out the facts for themselves.

“Look at all the evidence, from beginning to end, and then make a decision,” Bowman said. “Don’t leave his side, everyone must take their time and watch.”

Although he remains on death row in Livingston, Roberson is still under subpoena by the Texas House committee, and the Texas Supreme Court has yet to render a ruling on the constitutionality of his subpoena.

The Anderson County District Attorney cannot request a new execution date until 90 days after the last one, October 17.

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