Kevin Strickland (born June 7, 1959) is an African-American man who was wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury in 1979 of killing three people in Kansas City, Missouri. No physical evidence linked him to the scene of the crime and the only alleged witness later recanted her testimony that Strickland was involved. Strickland was given a life sentence. In 2021, he garnered national attention after former prosecutors in his case said that he was very likely innocent and called for his release.
Two black men who pled guilty to the murders have said Strickland was not involved, and a fingerprint from the shotgun used in the murders belonged to someone else. Cynthia Douglas, the sole eyewitness to the crime, said detectives pressured her into naming Strickland as a perpetrator. She attempted several times to recant her testimony before her death in 2015.
Numerous legal and political figures called for Strickland's exoneration. In June 2021, the Supreme Court of Missouri denied a petition to have him released. The Governor of Missouri Mike Parson refused to pardon him, saying he did not see his case as a "priority" and was not certain of his innocence. The office of the Missouri Attorney General fought in court to keep him in prison, saying it believed him to be guilty.
On November 23, 2021, Judge James Welsh overturned Strickland's conviction "since it was not based on physical evidence but on eye-witness testimony …, who later recanted her account", and Strickland was released on the same day. He was exonerated after more than 42 years in prison, "making his case the longest confirmed wrongful-conviction case in Missouri’s history".
Crime and trials
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. Another woman, Cynthia Douglas, Ingram's girlfriend, was shot in the leg non-fatally; she pretended to be dead until the attackers left, at which point, she crawled out of the house. All of the victims were tied up and then shot. Kevin 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.
Two suspects, Kilm 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. A fingerprint from the shotgun used in the murders belonged to someone other than Strickland who has not yet been identified. Douglas, the only eyewitness, first stated she could not identify other perpetrators (two other guys) but Adkins and Bell. Later, when police arrested Strickland, she picked out him in a police lineup. 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. 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." 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." Adkins and Bell confessed to the murders, but said Strickland was not a participant.
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." Strickland's current lawyer, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, said the prosecutor used each of his peremptory challenges to strike black jurors, resulting in the next trial having an all-white jury.
Strickland was convicted in 1979, one year after being arrested, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for 50 years. Adkins and Bell later cut plea bargains, pled guilty and were sentenced to 20 years, each of them serving less than 10 years. Others were suspected but not charged. Strickland tried to appeal in 1980, but it was dismissed by Supreme Court of Missouri.