After road-rage killing, pain, 'unbelievable' support for family

Along with the flowers, candles, and other memorial paraphernalia left at the site of what police say was the road-rage murder of 18-year-old Bianca Roberson, was a handwritten cardboard sign left in the dirt that included the words: "I'm a parent and can't even imagine your loss."

The victim's father, Rodney Roberson, said Wednesday that the loss, indeed, was unimaginable.

"It hurts my heart," he said in an interview. "Somebody just came by and took her life, just like that."

Services for Bianca Roberson are set for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Paul's Baptist Church in West Chester. A viewing will begin at 8 a.m. Roberson said family members on Thursday face the heartbreaking mission of delivering her funeral outfit.

Roberson said he still is trying to make sense of the horrific assault on June 28 at the height of the home-bound commute on the Route 100 bypass in West Goshen, Chester County, on a stretch of highway where two lanes become one.

Police said that as the victim's green 2009 Chevrolet Malibu was trying to merge into the lane along with a pickup truck driven by David A. Desper, of Trainer, Delaware County, Desper shot Bianca Roberson in the head, killing her. Her vehicle veered off the road and into a tree, and Desper fled, police said.

In the company of his attorney, Desper surrendered on Sunday, but word of the arrest was bittersweet, the victim's father said Wednesday.

"You think, 'They got him,' " Roberson said. "But my daughter's still gone. I want her here."

Roberson said he hasn't heard any further information from authorities about Desper, who remains jailed without bail, or a motive. Roberson and his family members plan to attend all future related court sessions.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Sunday that authorities believe the crime was random.

"I don't know why he did it," Roberson said. "Whatever the reason is, it doesn't justify him killing my daughter."

Roberson said the outpouring of support for the family has been "unbelievable." A pizza shop that Bianca frequented has been sending free pizzas to family members almost every day, he said. And Jacksonville University, which she had planned to attend, and Bayard Rustin High School, from which she had just graduated, have both reached out to the family regarding future scholarships in Bianca's name.

And in the last week, Roberson said, the gestures have revived so many positive memories he shared with his daughter, who loved basketball, drawing, and dance.

Meanwhile in Trainer,  knocks on the door of Desper's home went unanswered Wednesday, as did inquiries at the home of relatives on adjacent Chestnut Street.

A handwritten sign on that door read: "Our hearts go out to the Roberson family. We will have no further comment at this time."