In the early morning of January 31, 2002, Robert Roberson entered an emergency room in East Texas. His two-year-old daughter Nikki was in his arms. She was limp and unresponsive. Her lips were blue. Hospital staff gave Nikki life support and attempted to resuscitate her.

And they called the police on Roberson. They thought they were suffering from shaken baby syndrome.

But on Wednesday he testified before the Texas Legislative Jurisprudence Committee: Dr. Roland Auera Canadian neurosurgeon who has testified in similar cases said Nikki was not the victim of abuse.

“Nikki died of pneumonia – cardiac arrest – and she was essentially brain dead in a living body,” Auer said.

At the time, medical experts were told to watch out for deaths from shaken baby syndrome. Auer said the medical diagnosis was wrong.

“But what are you going to do if you see bleeding on the inside and nothing on the outside? You have to come up with a theory and that’s how the shocked theory was born, he told lawmakers. And then it becomes a ‘who did it?’ instead of a ‘what happened?’”

The American Academy of Pediatrics says shaken baby syndrome – now called “abusive head trauma” – remains a leading cause of death and injury in children. The Academy recommends that pediatricians remain vigilant for the signs of head trauma abuse.

Roberson is on the autism spectrum. The arresting officer said his lack of emotion in both the medical crisis and Nikki’s death contributed to his arrest for her murder.

That arresting officer, Brian Wharton, told Texas lawmakers Wednesday that he is haunted by what happened to Roberson.

“I’m ashamed that I was so focused on finding a perpetrator and convicting someone that I didn’t see Robert,” Wharton said.

Since Roberson’s conviction and death sentence, new research shows that shaken baby syndrome is more complex than thought two decades ago.

Nevertheless, Roberson has been on death row in Texas for more than 22 years. An appeal for the courts to re-examine the new evidence has been rejected.

Wharton said the appeals system was set up with the understanding that sometimes there are bad convictions.

“It’s all pointless if no one will admit we were wrong,” Wharton said.

Roberson was convicted in Anderson County in 2003.

District Attorney Allyson Mitchell testified Wednesday that Roberson received a fair trial — including an adequate defense.

On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected the call for clemency.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott can now only grant a one-time 30-day reprieve. Texas House Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) subpoenaed Roberson to appear before the committee at a later date in an effort to force a delay. It is unclear how the state or Abbott will respond given Thursday’s execution date.

Roberson’s attorneys are now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying he was denied due process and that Texas courts have refused to hear evidence of actual innocence.

Speaking to TPR from death row in Texas, Roberson said he accepts his fate. He relies on his deep faith in God’s will.

“But I’m okay with having to go there, you know,” he said. ‘I don’t want to go there. Don’t get me wrong.”

Unless action is taken, Roberson will die by lethal injection on Thursday evening.