*A Missouri prosecutor is pushing hard for the release of a man who has been imprisoned for four decades for a triple murder that he may not have committed.
Per The Associated Press Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has filed a motion asking a judge to exonerate Kevin Strickland, 62, who has been imprisoned for four decades. Baker and many others believe he is innocent.
Baker’s motion stems from a new law that allows local prosecutors to ask judges to exonerate prisoners deemed innocent.
“Most of us have heard the famous quotation that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a written statement. “Kevin Strickland stands as our own example of what happens when a system set to be just, just gets it terribly wrong.”
Per the report, Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office said in a court motion that Strickland is guilty, while Gov. Mike Parson is not convinced of his innocence.
READ MORE: Minister Farrakhan Helped Barry Hankerson to Cope with R. Kelly Abusing Aaliyah
Here’s more from the report:
Strickland, of Kansas City, was 18 when he was arrested in the April 25, 1978, deaths of Larry Ingram, 21; John Walker, 20; and Sherrie Black, 22, during a home invasion. But he has maintained his innocence since his arrest. Jurors in his first trial were unable to reach a verdict. Strickland, who is Black, was convicted the second time by an all-white jury.
Cynthia Douglas was wounded but pretended to be dead, and the case against Strickland rested largely on her identifying Strickland as the killer. But she retracted her statement before she died in 2015, sending an email to the Midwest Innocence Project in 2009 that said: “I am seeking info on how to help someone that was wrongfully accused, this incident happened back in 1978, I was the only eyewitness and things were not clear back then, but now I know more and would like to help this person if I can.”
Kevin Strickland has unjustly spent 40+ years in prison for a triple murder he did NOT commit. He’s missed out on his youth, family & his daughter growing up. We must RIGHT this wrong! Email Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt & demand Kevin be exonerated!
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 28, 2021
Cynthia’s family said in an affidavit that Douglas told everyone “the detectives told her what to say.”
“The evidence of Strickland’s innocence is clear and convincing.” the motion said, adding that the “evidence that supported Strickland’s conviction has been undermined, and no reliable evidence of guilt remains.”
The Missouri Supreme Court declined to hear Strickland’s case in June, per the report.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
