Amy Klobuchar says she thinks it’s important that evidence related to a murder case she oversaw as a prosecutor be reviewed. An AP investigation showed how her office, relying on a problematic police investigation, sent a black teen to prison for life.
Myon Burrell, convicted in the murder of Tyesha Edwards, an 11-year-old girl pierced in the heart by a stray bullet in 2002 while doing homework at her family's dining room table, stands for a photograph at the Stillwater Correctional Facility, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, in Stillwater, Minn.
There was no gun, fingerprints, or DNA. Alibis were never seriously pursued. Key evidence has gone missing or was never obtained, including a convenience store surveillance tape that Burrell and others say would have cleared him.His co-defendants, meanwhile, have admitted their part in Tyesha’s death. Burrell, they say, was not even there.For years, one of them -- Ike Tyson -- has insisted he was actually the triggerman.
Democrats joined Republicans in supporting harsher policing and tougher sentencing, leading to the highest incarceration rates in the nation’s history. “If you were young and black, and your case was tied to gangs or drugs, it was an especially scary time,” said Mary Moriarty, a public defender in Minnesota’s Hennepin County for nearly three decades. “I do firmly believe that there were people convicted of crimes that they did not do.
Assistant County Attorney Jean Burdorf, the only prosecutor left who was directly involved in the case, insists that Burrell received justice. “I’ll tell you what I’ve told a lot of people over the years. I have a lot of confidence in Minnesota’s justice system,” she said.For years, many caught up in Burrell’s case have insisted police got the wrong person. Some say they initially lied to protect themselves or their friends.
The pair slowed down, scowled at Oliver, then continued on. They picked up an unidentified acquaintance, got a gun and headed back. Tyson said it was his idea, and the intention was to scare Oliver, not to kill him. The getaway driver, Hans Williams, did identify a third man -- by his full name and in a photo lineup. Police initially said they didn’t want to “muddy up the case” with an unverified name, later that they didn’t believe him. They made no real effort to follow up. After getting a denial from the suspect in 2005, the chief homicide detective “permanently checked” out their recorded conversation and gave it to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. It has since gone missing.
With a new trial date approaching and their key witness, Oliver, gone to the grave, the police turned to informants in the jails and prisons. Some were offered generous sentence reductions, cash and other deals for those willing to come forward with a story about what happened in the shooting, even if it wasn’t true, inmates said.
Soon after, he was caught selling drugs and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Worried he might end up in jail, like his dad and oldest brother, his mother packed up the family and moved to Bemidji, a small city 3 1/2 hours away. But the 13-year-old struggled to fit in and found himself coming back to the Twin Cities often.Less than 24 hours later, Tyesha was dead and police were desperate to find her killer.
Evans remembers worrying that Burrell would get caught up in a police sweep and told him he better leave. A police officer told him that he was a huge disappointment to his mother, and that she had told officers she thought he was capable of the shooting.
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