Tracy Denise Roberson convicted for “death by false rape blame”

Tracy Denise Roberson was convicted on Friday of involuntary manslaughter. She caused her lover’s shooting death by falsely crying rape. Her husband, Darrell Roberson, shot and killed LaSalle after his wife said she was raped.

In late 2006, Darrell Roberson came home from a late-night card game to find his scantily clad wife with another man in a pickup truck in the driveway. Tracy Roberson was with her lover but cried rape, and her husband fired four shots into the truck as Devin LaSalle drove off, killing him.

Darrell Roberson initially was arrested, but a murder charge was later dropped and a grand jury indicted Tracy Roberson instead. Prosecutors placed all the blame on Tracy Roberson, showing evidence of the affair with LaSalle, 32, and a text message in which she invited him to her house that evening. Defense attorneys called no witnesses during her 3 day trial. They instead blamed LaSalle’s death on Darrell Roberson’s jealousy and rage.

Tracy Roberson’s defense attorney portrayed her husband as a jealous and controlling man who was out to kill LaSalle regardless of a rape accusation.  On Tuesday, the jury listened to a tape of the 911 call Tracy Roberson made the night LaSalle was killed.  “The evidence, and you’ll know it after you hear it, is that he pulled that trigger because he was mad, and he was jealous, and he couldn’t have heard her cry rape,” defense attorney Jill Davis said.

Tracy Denise Roberson, 37, cried a bit when the verdict was announced. The punishment phase was set for Monday, and she faces two to 20 years in prison.

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