NaijNaira
Lamar Johnson, who had been convicted of murder for the 1994 shooting death of Marcus Boyd, was granted a pardon in 2021 by Missouri Governor Mike Parson after an investigation conducted by St. Louis Prosecutor Kim Gardner’s office and the Innocence Project convinced her that Mr Johnson was telling the truth.
From the start, Mr Johnson had insisted on his innocence and said he was with his girlfriend many kilometers away when the crime occurred.
At the hearing in December 2020, Lamar Johnson testified that he had gone outside of a friend’s home momentarily to sell drugs some blocks from where Boyd was shot dead.
When asked if he had killed Marcus Boyd, he responded “No sir”.
His girlfriend at the time Erika Barrow then corroborated that she had been with him for almost all of that night and it would have been impossible for him to travel from their location to Boyd’s house within five minutes.
The prosecution’s case largely relied upon a key witness James Elking who later recanted his testimony; Elking confessed that police had coerced and pressured him during lineup viewing resulting in him falsely pointing out Lamar as one of the shooters.
Moreover, another suspect Phil Campbell signed an affidavit admitting guilt stating Mr Johnson’s innocence which is backed up by another inmate James Howard who verified Campbell’s statement, saying they were responsible; however landmark this may be, Campbell has since died.
