BALTIMORE — Following a 10 day trial, a jury found Michael Robertson guilty of murdering Akia Eggleston.
The 22-year-old was eight-months pregnant when she went missing on May 3, 2017.
Robertson was charged with Eggleston's murder in February of 2022, while detectives officially classified her disappearance as a homicide two months later.
Although Eggleston's body was never recovered, prosecutors said Robertson previously searched the internet for trash dumping locations in Baltimore.
Robertson was the father of Eggleston's unborn child, yet prosecutors believe he wanted to avoid paying child support.
Eggleston was last spotted on surveillance camera stopping at a bank near Baltimore's Inner Harbor. She was apparently planning to move with Robertson, but found out he was seeing another woman who was also having a child with him.
Phone records suggest Robertson was the last person with Eggleston near her home in Cherry Hill the day she disappeared.
Police tracked Robertson and Eggleston's phones moving together later that evening towards downtown Baltimore.
During that period Robertson messaged and called his mistress, while Eggleston's phone eventually went dead never to be seen again.
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Eggleston's phone made it's last outgoing call to Robertson's number at 3:44pm that day. Her last Facebook message was sent less than two hours later. It was to a friend inviting them to her baby shower.
She no showed the event four days later, causing her friends and family to become concerned.
Throughout the trial defense lawyers argued Robertson's innocence. They claim alternate suspects had more of a motive, despite calling no witnesses.
Eggleston's family, however, long suspected Robertson was involved.
“I think there’s no argument for the defense,” said Eggleston's step-father, Shawn Wilkinson.
The jury seemed to agree, returning a guilty verdict on all charges in just two hours.
“Securing a conviction of this magnitude where there has never been a body found in a purely circumstantial case is a testament to the professionals in my homicide division," said Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates. "Today's verdict sends a clear and resounding message to residents that the Office of the State's Attorney takes any homicide in Baltimore gravely serious and will be relentless in the pursuit of justice.”
Robertson is scheduled to be sentenced October 25. He faces two life sentences behind bars.
