HOUSTON — A Texas man who this week could be the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome awaited a decision Wednesday on his request for clemency from a state board.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles’ decision on whether to recommend that Robert Roberson’s execution on Thursday be stopped either through a commutation of his sentence or a reprieve was expected to come on the same day that a Texas House committee was set to meet in Austin to discuss his case.

“We’re going to shine a light on this case for all 31 million Texans to hear and to watch and to see. And we’re hopeful that by Thursday evening, we’re able to secure that pause button in this case,” said state Rep. Jeff Leach, one of the members of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee that will meet on Wednesday.

Leach, a Republican, is part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers who have asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to stop the execution.

Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence.

Abbott can only grant clemency after receiving a recommendation from the parole board. Under Texas law, Abbott has the power to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve without a recommendation from the board.

In his nearly 10 years as governor, Abbott has halted only one imminent execution, in 2018 when he spared the life of Thomas Whitaker.

The parole board has recommended clemency in a death row case only six times since the state resumed executions in 1982.

Roberson’s lawyers, the Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others say his conviction was based on faulty and now outdated scientific evidence related to shaken baby syndrome. The diagnosis refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

Roberson’s supporters don’t deny that head and other injuries from child abuse are real. But they say doctors misdiagnosed Curtis’ injuries as being related to shaken baby syndrome and that new evidence has shown the girl died not from abuse but from complications related to severe pneumonia.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, other medical organizations and prosecutors say the diagnosis is valid and that doctors look at all possible things, including any illnesses, when determining if injuries are attributable to shaken baby syndrome.

The Anderson County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Roberson, has said in court documents that after a 2022 hearing to consider the new evidence in the case, a judge rejected the theories that pneumonia and other diseases caused Curtis’ death.

On Tuesday, an East Texas judge denied requests by Roberson’s attorneys to stop his lethal injection by vacating the execution warrant and recusing the judge who had issued the warrant.

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BOERNE, Texas – With its parks, green scenery, and rolling hills, Boerne is a popular tourist destination.

But it’s much more special for locals who call the place home. When KSAT met with people at the Free Roam Brewing Company on South Main Street, unsurprisingly, words like “community” kept coming up during discussions about the upcoming election.

After all, Boerne is the city that rallied around its Little League baseball team as they competed in the Little League World Series. When the team returned from the games in Williamsport, Pa., Boerne held a downtown celebration and parade for the players.

The locals who spoke with KSAT were very concerned with how issues are affecting their community.

Candace Affeldt said she’s worried about the types of jobs that attract people about to enter the workforce.

“We’re so short on any of our blue-collar jobs like plumbers, electricians, mechanics. If you try to build anything, it’s nearly impossible,” said Affeldt.

Affeldt has a point. A recent report showed that the United States is projected to be short 550,000 plumbers by 2027.

Affeldt is a small business owner who runs the brewery with her husband, Jeremy Affeldt. He told KSAT that he’s concerned about the middle class.

“The working class supports us. We want the working class in here. I want them to be able to come in and enjoy the community. Is there going to be an opportunity where they can thrive enough to be able to do that?” asked Jeremy Affeldt.

A retired engineer, B.J. Bridges, said he’s mindful of higher tuition rates and how heavy debt might stifle opportunities for younger generations.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the annual cost to attend a four-year college full-time was $10,231 in 1980. By 2018-2020, that amount increased to $28,775.

“I feel for them now having to pay that tuition. Hopefully, they choose the right profession,” said Bridges.

Bridges also told KSAT he prefers Donald Trump to win November’s presidential election.

“On the foreign policy side, I think we’re just so weak now. That worries me. I don’t want to see my grandkids going to war, but you’ve also got to be careful because you can’t be too far-right,” said Bridges.

Another man spoke about the need for bipartisanship.

“Both sides have to work together. Even when one side wins, you still have to work together, right? So, it’s really about coming together and finding a middle ground and making it work for families that work hard,” said John Grof.

“Your Voice, South Texas” aims to elevate a diversity of voices and drown out some of the hyper-partisanship that keeps people fighting on social media.

So far, KSAT has recorded episodes in Uvalde, Seguin, Pleasanton, Kerrville, New Braunfels, and La Vernia.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz has said he’s being “viciously outspent” and “pounded every day” as he seeks to retain his Senate seat against a challenge from Democratic Representative Colin Allred.

Cruz made the remarks during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Monday, in which he urged viewers to donate to his campaign to combat what he called “wild-eyed liberals that wanna buy Texas.”

According to the latest figures published by their respective campaigns, Allred raised $30.3 million for his Senate campaign during the third quarter of 2024, substantially ahead of Cruz, who received $21 million across three accounts. Cruz’s figure included money raised by his leadership PAC, which is unable to spend directly on his reelection campaign and a fundraising committee that gives money to the Texas senator’s main account and leadership PAC.

In the race before the third quarter, Allred raised $38 million to his main campaign account, significantly ahead of Cruz at $23 million. However, the scales were evened somewhat when affiliated PACs were included, boosting Cruz’s total before the third quarter to $40 million versus Allred’s $41.2 million.

Combined, Cruz and Allred have raised $132.5 million since the start of the campaign, a figure greater than the combined final figure of $119 million Cruz and Democrat Beto O’Rourke received when they battled for the seat in 2018.

Cruz successfully defended his Senate seat in 2018 with 50.9 percent of the vote against 48.3 percent for O’Rourke.

During his Fox News appearance on Monday, Cruz said: “Chuck Schumer and George Soros are flooding over $100 million into the state of Texas. I’m getting pounded every day. We had a poll that came out yesterday—showed it is a one-point race. And we’re getting viciously outspent.”

The senator then asked viewers to visit his website and contribute “25 bucks, 50, 100, maybe somebody giving $500 or $1,000” to combat what he termed “wild-eyed liberals that wanna buy Texas.”

In a statement sent to Newsweek about Allred’s third-quarter fundraising total his campaign manager Paige Hutchinson said: “From the $5 grassroots donors to the families knocking doors together each weekend, this campaign is about bringing Texans together and holding Ted Cruz accountable for only caring about himself. This November, Colin Allred will send Ted Cruz packing for good.”

Newsweek reached out to Cruz via email for comment on Tuesday outside of regular office hours.

Earlier this week, Politico reported that an October poll from the GOP-affiliated Senate Leadership Fund (SLP), cited in a memo produced by the PAC, put Cruz ahead by just 1 percent compared to a 3 percent lead in September.

In better news for Cruz, a Marist Poll of 1,186 Texan likely voters, conducted from October 3 to 7, put the Republican incumbent at 51 percent, five points ahead of Allred at 46 percent. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump gave Cruz, who he defeated in the bitterly contested 2016 presidential primary, an enthusiastic endorsement on his Truth Social website.

The Republican presidential candidate wrote: “While I have endorsed Ted, on numerous occasions, verbally, because of the importance of the race, and Ted’s importance to the future of our Country, I thought the endorsement should be memorialized in writing.

“Senator Ted Cruz is doing a tremendous job representing the Great People of Texas, a State I love and WON BIG in 2016 and 2020, and, based on the Polls, will win even bigger in November. To the people of Texas, I greatly appreciate your support, and, as you know, I HAVE NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Update 10/15/24, 11:08 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Colin Allred’s campaign chief, Paige Hutchinson.