Kevin Strickland: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Tag: Reverted

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On April 25, 1978, in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], three people were killed when a group of assailants ransacked a house. The victims were 22-year-old Sherrie Black, 21-year-old Larry Ingram, and 20-year-old John Walker.<ref name=AP /> Another woman, Cynthia Douglas, Ingram's girlfriend, was shot in the leg non-fatally; she [[apparent death|pretended to be dead]] until the attackers left, at which point she crawled out of the house.<ref name=AP /><ref name=KCTV /> All of the victims were tied up and then shot.<ref name=KCTV>{{cite web |url=https://www.kctv5.com/news/investigations/jailed-kansas-city-man-innocent-after-43-years-prosecutor-and-legal-team-says/article_8fe1d582-b183-11eb-9f90-6b443970fb16.html |title=Jailed Kansas City man innocent after 43 years, prosecutor and legal team says |date=May 10, 2021 |last=Ricono |first=Angie |website=[[KCTV]] |access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref> Strickland, who was then 18 years old, said at the time he was watching [[television]] and talking on the phone, and that the next morning police began accusing him of the murders.<ref name=ABC>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/prosecutor-man-wrongfully-imprisoned-decades-remains-bars/story?id=78209794 |title=Prosecutor says man was wrongfully imprisoned for decades, yet he remains behind bars |date=June 11, 2021 |last1=Davis |first1=Linsey |last2=Schwartz-Lavares |first2=Ashley |last3=Abdul-Hakim |first3=Gabriella |last4=Yang |first4=Allie |last5=Amiel |first5=Andrea |last6=Frost |first6=Meredith |last7=Tienabeso |first7=Seni |website=[[ABC News]] |access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref>

Two suspects, KilmKim Adkins and Vincent Bell, were later arrested. Bell was a childhood friend of Strickland's, and lived at a house nearby. Police found a fingerprint belonging to Strickland on Bell's car; Strickland says this was because he had driven the car before, but the last time he had seen Adkins and Bell was at 5 or 6 p.m. on the night of the murders.<ref name=ABC /> A fingerprint from the [[shotgun]] used in the murders belonged to someone other than Strickland who has not yet been identified.<ref name=AP /> Douglas, the only eyewitness, later picked out Strickland in a [[police lineup]].<ref name=ABC/> Douglas later said she was pressured into naming him as one of the perpetrators by detectives on the case, and until her death in 2015 attempted to have her testimony recanted.<ref name=AP /> In 2009, she emailed the [[Midwest Innocence Project]], saying, "I am seeking info on how to help someone that was wrongfully accused. 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."<ref name=ABC /> Douglas said police told her, "Just pick Strickland out of the lineup and we'll be done, it will all go away, you can go on and you don’t have to worry about these guys no more."<ref name=KCTV /> Adkins and Bell confessed to the murders, but said Strickland was not a participant.<ref name=ABC />

Strickland's first trial ended in a [[hung jury]], with the only black juror refusing to find him guilty. According to Strickland, after the trial, the prosecutor approached his lawyer and said "I'll make sure this doesn't happen next time."<ref name=ABC /> Strickland's current lawyer, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, said the prosecutor used each of his [[peremptory challenge]]s to strike black jurors, resulting in the next trial having an [[all-white jury]].<ref name=ABC />