A Black man convicted of murder by an all-white jury—on thin evidence—has been locked in prison for 43 years. But now Missouri prosecutors are finally admitting that Kevin Strickland is innocent and should be freed. “This is a profound error we must correct now,” prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Monday, according to The Kansas City Star. Strickland has long professed his innocence in the triple murder; two suspects who pleaded guilty backed him up, and the survivor who fingered him says she was pressured to do so and tried to recant. The Star published an investigation of Strickland’s case last year, prompting prosecutors to review it.
