Baltimore Man Faces Two Life Sentences After Conviction of Pregnant Girlfriend’s Murder in 2017

By Andrew Michaels - August 1, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Suspects | Victims |

After two and a half weeks at trial and less than a day of deliberations, a jury convicted Michael Andre Robertson of his pregnant girlfriend’s murder following her disappearance more than six years ago.

Jurors returned their verdict to Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Christopher Panos mid-morning on July 27, a day after counsel presented their closing arguments. The 42-year-old defendant was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Akia Eggleston and her unborn son.

She was about 35 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

“We never found Akia’s body, but the evidence found him,” the prosecutor declared before the jury, gesturing towards the defendant who sat at the nearby trial table alongside his defense attorney, Jason Rodriguez.

The investigation into the 22-year-old woman’s disappearance was a collaborative effort between the Baltimore Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case dates back to May 3, 2017, when Robertson was said to have killed Eggleston at her home that she shared with a roommate on the 600 block of Cherrycrest Road.

Eggleston’s sudden disappearance shocked family and friends as her digital footprint vanished, the prosecutor said, such as her Facebook presence. Attention soon shifted to Robertson, her boyfriend and the father of her unborn son.

During his closing argument, the prosecutor said Robertson was “hanging by the thinnest of threads” when he concocted a ruse involving himself, Eggleston, and another woman who was also in a relationship with the defendant. The prosecutor theorized that Robertson was facing pressure from the ultimatums given to him by both women to end the other’s relationship in addition to having his eighth child on the way.

Eggleston and Robertson’s ongoing discussions of finding a new home and the former’s impending baby shower were among the “trigger events” that led to Eggleston’s murder, the prosecutor said.

“He had the desire to eliminate all of this,” he said.

The first phase of Robertson’s plan began when he sent Eggleston a picture of a possible new home—a lie that was later revealed during the police investigation. The defendant had asked Eggleston to withdraw cash for a deposit, with plans of picking up the keys to the home that evening.

Eggleston allegedly learned of this lie and got into an argument with Robertson, leading to her death between 5:40 p.m. and 6:08 p.m based on the cell photo analysis completed during the investigation. 

Breaking down this evidence, the prosecutor detailed how Robertson drove to his brother’s house after the murder only to return to Eggleston’s home shortly after 9 p.m. to dispose of her body in a nearby dumpster and cover her with a dresser and other items. This was to give the illusion that the victim had moved.

Robertson’s lies continued during his interviews with the Baltimore Police, specifically, telling police that Eggleston wanted to disappear and was suicidal and that he made several attempts to call her after her disappearance. He later exhibited what the prosecution described as “guilty behavior” in October 2017 when he searched Google to learn where Baltimore City’s dumpster trash is taken and the location of nearby landfills.

The prosecutor said he believed Robertson may have made these searches after seeing ongoing news reports of Eggleston’s disappearance.

Four years later, after Robertson and his other girlfriend moved to Michigan, the prosecutor reminded the jury that police, once again, brought the defendant in for questioning after eliminating other possible suspects, including Eggleston’s friend and roommate.

Defense counsel questioned his client’s alleged motives and, instead, directed the jury’s attention to Eggleston’s friend, who police said was at work at the time of Eggleston’s death. However, Rodriguez said, no such documents confirming the man’s alibi were seen at trial.

He also noted that Eggleston and her friend “had a casual intimate relationship” up until she went missing.

A plausible reason behind the home debacle was that Robertson found the place on Craigslist, which is prone to scams, Rodriguez added.