Love Triangle Turns Lethal
Robertson was entangled in a tumultuous love triangle with Eggleston and another woman, Hali Pomeroy, with whom he had already fathered two children. On the night of May 2, 2017, Pomeroy and Robertson got into a heated argument after Eggleston posted a photo of her latest ultrasound on Facebook.
“That was the moment that Michael probably decided something needed to happen,” Kurt Bjorklund, Cold Case Homicide Unit director for the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office and prosecutor of the case, tells A&E Crime + Investigation.
Robertson was crumbling under the pressure of his serial infidelity and having several children with more women apart from Eggleston and Pomeroy, Bjorklund says.
Pomeroy “was basically getting him to make a decision,” he explains.
The purported ultimatum prompted Robertson to devise a plan and promise Eggleston they would move in together ahead of their baby’s arrival. He even sent her pictures of their new place, but “the whole thing was a ruse,” Bjorklund adds.
The Expectant Mother’s Last Known Movements
Robertson and Pomeroy lived together but were evicted from their apartment in April 2017. As a result, Pomeroy and their two children were forced to move in with her mother in Elkridge, Md., while Robertson stayed with Eggleston at her apartment in the Cherry Hill section of Baltimore, court documents state.
On May 1, 2017, Eggleston told a friend via Facebook Messenger that she and Robertson were finally getting their own place together and that she had to put down a deposit. On the afternoon of May 3, she was captured on BB&T bank surveillance footage withdrawing money from her bank account, according to probable cause documents.
That same day, Eggleston told several other friends on Facebook about her plans to move to Baltimore’s west side, where she was going to start her life with Robertson, their son and her 3-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, per Bjorklund. In the evening, she sent a friend a digital invite to her upcoming baby shower—the last time anyone would hear from the expectant mother.
Digital Evidence Stacks Up, But Still No Body
After May 3, all communication between Eggleston and friends and family stopped. When she failed to show up to her baby shower four days later, loved ones reported her disappearance.
“Somebody with her lack of means doesn't just go missing without succumbing to some sort of criminal death,” Bjorklund says, add that her "very robust social media presence" played a cruical role in "establishing a timeline of when she may have been killed.”
Additionally, “We also looked into her financials,” he says. “There were no bank statements or transactions after that day that added to our timeline, and her family and friends never heard from her again.”
Cell phone evidence indicated Eggleston last used her phone at her apartment in Cherry Hill the evening of May 3. During that time, Robertson’s cell phone was also tracked to the same location, per probable cause documents. Missing from the residence, along with the victim and her cell phone, was the money she withdrew earlier that day and a dresser, according to authorities.
Inside the apartment, there were no signs of an altercation, and no blood or ballistic evidence. Neighbors didn’t report hearing any sounds of a struggle the day Eggleston vanished, authorities say.
“We believe she was killed by Michael either through strangulation or smothering, or perhaps an assault with blunt force to her head, or a combination of those three,” Bjorklund explains.
Authorities alleged Robertson then disposed of her body in the communal dumpster and tossed her dresser on top of her to conceal her remains.
By the time detectives searched the trash, authorities believe her corpse had already been transferred to a Virginia landfill, but safety regulations due to hazardous gases prevented them from digging more than four feet down.
Investigators discovered Robertson made multiple damning internet searches, including “where does Baltimore city trash go when picked up,” “BALTIMORE City Dumpster pickup” and “baltimore city landfill,” following Eggleston’s disappearance, according to probable cause documents, further supporting their theory that Eggleston’s body was disposed of at a dump site. Eggleston’s body has never been found.
To Catch a Killer
Robertson was questioned several times during the investigation but had a habit of avoiding detectives months at a time between interviews, authorities say. Each time, his story changed and was pervaded with contradictions and inconsistencies.
In October 2017, Robertson, Pomeroy and their two kids relocated to Michigan, adding another level of complexity and suspicion to the case. Then, with a shakeup at the prosecutor's office, Eggleston’s file didn’t land on Bjorklund’s desk until the summer of 2021, four years later, Bjorklund explains. The attorney re-examined the case with “fresh eyes” and worked with law enforcement to further the investigation. By January 2022, Bjorklund says the department had sufficient evidence to charge Robertson with Eggleston’s murder and the murder of her unborn baby.
“The level of circumstantial evidence was so strong, I did not think I was going to have trouble proving that Akia was dead,” the prosecutor explains. “She didn't have a car, she had no money, she was on social media every day, she would talk to people every day, she wasn't a recluse. So, we were confident that we were going to be able to prove that she wasn’t just missing.”
During the trial that lasted less than three weeks, Bjorklund argued the murders were premeditated.
Bjorklund says Robertson "probably was extremely stressed financially and resorted to violence” because “he couldn't extricate himself from the situation.” “No one else had the motive, the means or the opportunity to do this,” Bjorklund continues.
The 12-person jury agreed. Robertson was convicted of the first-degree murder of Eggleston and the first-degree murder of a viable fetus. A judge handed him two consecutive life sentences.
“To the extent that a criminal trial and conviction can provide a measure of justice to families that have lost loved ones to violence, I believe justice was served,” Bjorklund says. “Michael Robertson will never be allowed to harm anyone ever again. However, he owes it to the family of Akia Eggleston to provide the full truth of what he did and where he disposed of her body."
