A
jury sentenced Robert Solis to death Wednesday for murdering Harris
County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, whom he shot during a
2019 traffic stop.
“The
defendant executed a uniformed deputy by shooting him in 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.
Dhaliwal,
the first observant Sikh deputy in county history, was working patrol
when he pulled Solis over in the 14800 block of Willancy Court on Sept.
27, 2019.
Jurors were also told about the defendant’s long history of violence.
“The
trauma that he has inflicted on so many victim’s just didn’t stop. It
was heartbreaking to find victim after victim. It was just
heartbreaking,” said Assistant District
Attorney Katie Warren, who prosecuted the case with ADA Lauren Bard.
Warren noted that Dhaliwal was not just a trailblazer in the law enforcement community, he was an exceptional officer.
“Deputy
Dhaliwal was a pillar of this community, and when it came to law
enforcement, he set the bar,” Warren said. “His loss is a loss that
every single one of us feels.
We’re glad today that this jury was able to give justice.”
Testimony
for a jury to determine the defendant’s guilt or innocence began Oct.
10, the day he fired his three defense attorneys and elected to
represent himself.
A jury convicted Solis of capital murder on Oct. 17.
Following
the guilty verdict, a sentencing phase began in which jurors determined
whether Solis should get the death penalty or life without the
possibility of parole.
Bard
noted that peace officers, like Dhaliwal, work every day to help people
and enforce the law, which motivated her while trying the case.
“This
case was an honor and a privilege,” Bard said. “And knowing how hard
law enforcement works every day and everything that we put on their
shoulders, it’s hard not
to fight and it’s hard not to get emotional.”
The case was investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
