A man will spend at least the next two decades in prison after pleading guilty to the murder and sexual offense of his infant daughter.
Martin County District Attorney Seth Edwards said that 53-year-old Ricky Roberson was sentenced Thursday by a judge to spend between 23 and 32 and a half years in prison after he pled guilty to second degree murder and first degree sex offense.
Edwards said it was back on January 29th of 2017 that the man called 911 to report that his child was unresponsive inside a home on Henderson Street in Williamston. Emergency responders found that the 10-month-old had been dead for some time. Edwards said that nurses at Martin General Hospital saw blood in the child’s diaper.
Investigators with Williamston Police and the S.B.I. interviewed the mother who said that she allowed the daugher to spend time with the father who lived in another home.
On January 26th, the mother told investigators she was upset to find Roberson and another man drinking and smoking marijuana. After arguing with Roberson, and requiring the other man to leave, officials said the mother let the child stay with the father. She said the child was fine when she left her.
The district attorney said that autopsy findings included hemorrhaging in addition to injuries to her spinal cord. The medical examiner determined cause of death to the child to be from traumatic neck injuries.
Edwards said that Roberson admitted to investigators that he had drank heavily on the night of the murder and recognized the child was in his sole custody in the house leading up to her death.
“As in most cases, we still have a few unanswered questions,” said District Attorney Seth Edwards in a press release. “However, we know this was no accident based upon the child’s injuries,” he said.
Tell us your thoughts...