“This heinous crime continues the American tragedy of children seeing loved ones shot down in front of them,” said Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “Our justice system must work hardest to protect our society’s children by ensuring their physical safety and mental well-being.”
Tawnney Caldwell and Bobby Caldwell were in a custody dispute over their children.
During the trial against Roberts, prosecutors laid out a series of events that they said led to Bobby Caldwell’s death and that included multiple states. They said Roberts tried killing Bobby Caldwell earlier that month in Greene County but wasn’t successful. Prosecutors said that Roberts went to Tennessee after the attempt but was picked up by Tawnney Caldwell shortly thereafter. They then went to Kentucky, where a gun was purchased from her stepfather. They said the two also went to Dayton, where they got another gun from Roberts’ brothers.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Roberts went to the Cornerstone Building on Linden Avenue in Riverside, where he waited for Bobby Caldwell to emerge.
“Sterling shot Bobby again and again and again, causing Bobby to fall to the ground,” U.S. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Amy Smith said. Smith added Bobby Caldwell’s children were with him and “within feet” of the bullets.
“Killing a father in front of his children is a cold and ruthless act that deserves a lengthy prison sentence,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers. “I applaud the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that investigated this homicide and the prosecutors who pursued justice for the victim’s family.”
Tawnney Caldwell was sentenced in July 2021 to 35 years in prison in connection to the case.
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