Jurors sentence Robert Solis to death in murder of HCSO Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The man who killed a beloved Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy was sentenced to death Wednesday. Jurors found Robert Solis guilty of capital murder last week in the shooting death of Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal after deliberating less than 30 minutes. He had no reaction when the sentence was announced.

Before jurors left the courtroom to decide his fate, Solis told them, “Only thing I have to say is it’s your decision to make. My life is in your hands. ” Solis admitted he killed Dhaliwal during a traffic stop in 2019.

“I shot him,” he testified while also acting as his own attorney. RELATED: ‘I shot him’ | Robert Solis guilty in HCSO Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal’s murder “The defendant executed a uniformed deputy by shooting him in the head 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.

The ex-con with a violent history chose to represent himself after firing his attorneys at the beginning of the trial. Late last week, Solis attempted to have the judge in his case removed. He also asked for an attorney for the sentencing phase but the judge ruled it was too late.

“I stand before you an innocent man,” Solis said in his opening statement. “I believe I’ll be able to show I had no intention of killing this man. ” RELATED: Man accused of killing Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal trying to remove judge from the case After later admitting he did it, Solis said that some of it was a “blur.

” DEATH. That’s the jury’s unanimous verdict in punishment phase for Robert Solis for the 2019 murder of Harris Co Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal. Solis had no visible response to sentence.

Working on getting reaction from family and others for @KHOU beginning at 4:00 #khou11 https://t. co/xh54ISrJMs pic. twitter.

com/1lidWW7lZT Prosecutors said Solis told them that he ran up to Dhaliwal, shoved him against his car, and shot him in his head. He admitted to giving the deputy a false name when he was pulled over. A passenger testified that Solis said, “I am not going back to jail,” before he killed Dhaliwal.

“Yeah, I lied. I wasn’t 100% truthful,” Solis said. “I had a warrant for my arrest, but that’s not a reason to jump out of the car and cold-bloodily kill someone.

” Solis had a long rap sheet and he had at least one open warrant for a parole violation when he killed Dhaliwal. His ex-girlfriend Melissa Purtee told us back then that she tried to warn authorities. “All of this could have been prevented had somebody done their job the right way,” she told us in an interview on Oct.

3, 2019. KHOU 11 obtained one of her calls to the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office from July. “My kids’ father, he has skipped out on parole, he’s not checking in for over two years now and it was a violent crime he was originally arrested for,” Purtee told the dispatcher.

RELATED: Could Deputy Dhaliwal’s murder have been prevented? RELATED: Victims’ advocate blasts parole system after murder of Deputy Dhaliwal Purtee also claims she called parole officers, but the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it has no record of her calls. “No one is being held accountable,” State Senator John Whitmire said in 2019. He said there’s not one single agency responsible for finding people like Solis, who skip out on parole.

Whitmire vowed to fight for change in the Texas legislature. From law enforcement to the Sikh community and total strangers, the death of Dhaliwal touched the community deeply. Gonzalez described him as a well-liked and well-respected leader in the department and a “ray of sunshine and sunlight for so many.

” “He was a hero, a respected member of the community, and a trailblazer,” Gonzalez said. “For me, personally, I’m heartbroken because he’s a personal friend of mine. ” Verdict is in: Jurors sentence Robert Solis to death.

We are extremely grateful that justice has been served. 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.

#HouNews https://t. co/w2c3q5qpgr In 2009, Dhaliwal gave up lucrative work as an entrepreneur with a trucking company. After hearing then-sheriff Adrian Garcia speak at a Sikh temple.

“He wanted to pursue his calling of public service and consulted with his father about getting permission to join the department,” said Garcia, now a Harris County Commissioner. “He did, and he did so very quietly. I met him many times but did not understand the circumstances by which he came to us.

” United Sikhs launched The Deputy Dhaliwal HERO Fund (Honoring Emergency Response Officers) with a donation of $600,000 to his wife and three children. Garcia said Dhaliwal dreamed of creating the fund when he met a Texas police officer who could not pay for roof repairs after Hurricane Harvey. His family is the first beneficiary of the fund.

“The Deputy Dhaliwal HERO Fund was Sandeep’s dream to help first responders who are affected in the line of duty or in need of emergency funds,” Garcia said. “This was his dream to uplift humanity and his fellow first responders as well as their families in their time of need. ” First responders are able to request emergency funds directly on the United Sikhs’ website .

In 2015, HCSO became the largest law enforcement agency in the United States to allow a Sikh deputy to serve with Sikhism’s articles of faith , including a turban and beard. His death inspired HPD to follow suit. In 2020, a portion of Beltway 8 near Highway 249 was renamed the HCSO Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Tollway.

A post office in west Houston was renamed in his honor last October. KHOU 11 on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube.