Convicted cop killer Robert Solis, 50, maintained his innocence in the murder of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, 42, but he recently asked jurors to sentence him to death at the beginning of his penalty phase. Jurors obliged him on Wednesday, recommending a death sentence.
“We are extremely grateful that justice has been served,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote in response to the news. “Sandeep changed our Sheriff’s Office family for the better, and we continue striving to live up to his example of servant leadership. May he Rest In Peace.”
Prosecutors say that Solis ran up to Dhaliwal and shot him at point-blank range in the head during a 2019 traffic stop. Authorities reportedly presented Dhaliwal’s body cam footage, which showed just that. Solis jumped out of his own vehicle, approached Dhaliwal and opened fire. Authorities said that Solis, who was a fugitive for a parole violation, shot Dhaliwal in the head because he did not want to return to prison.
“This is an act,” prosecutor Lauren Bard said, according to KTRK. “This is a choice. This is intent, and he comes running up to that man with a gun and he shoves him up against the car.”
The 50-year-old insisted on his innocence. He maintained the shooting was an accident.
“I stand before you an innocent man until you all go back there and deliberate and determine whether or not the state has met its burden and whether I intentionally and knowingly, a conscious objective, shot this deputy,” he reportedly told jurors.
“It happened,” Solis also said in court. “I can’t change it. Was that my intent? My objective? Absolutely not.”
Jurors took just 25 minutes to find him guilty. He essentially threw his hands up after his conviction.
“Since you believe I’m guilty of capital murder, I believe you should give me the death penalty,” Solis said in the beginning of his penalty phase on Oct. 17, according to KTRK.
Dhaliwal, a father of three and observant Sikh, was allowed in 2015 to wear a turban and beard during his law enforcement work.
[Screenshot via KHOU]