It took a Texas jury just 35 minutes to sentence Robert Solis to death for shooting a deputy from behind during a traffic stop in 2019.
“The defendant executed a uniformed deputy by shooting him in cold blood in broad daylight. That makes him the worst of the worst, which is why we asked jurors to sentence him to death,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement to CBS News.
Sandeep Dhaliwal was the first Sikh deputy in Harris County.
ABC 13 reports the jurors did not mince any words when talking about how they reached their decision.
“I said, ‘Hey, we can have death row in my backyard. I’ll just do it Texas-style, oak tree, and a rope.’ We didn’t have to go through two weeks, two and a half weeks of trial,” juror Randall Raschke said.
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“I had a nice open mind when I first started out,” another juror said. “But no, I’m sorry. It was what it was.”
Houston Public Media reports since Ogg became district attorney in 2016, only three people have received the death penalty before Solis.
Solis rejected three different court-appointed attorneys and chose to represent himself.
He gave a brief closing statement.
“The only thing I have to say is that it’s your decision to make. My life is in your hands,” he merely said.
“We are extremely grateful that justice has been served,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote on Twitter after Solis received his death sentence. “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.”
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