First Published: 10:51 AM PDT, May 13, 2021
Kevin Strickland was convicted of three Kansas City murders in 1978, largely based on the pivotal testimony of an eyewitness who later recanted, say prosecutors and officials.
A 61-year-old Missouri man who has spent more than four decades behind bars after being convicted of three murders was wrongly convicted and should be exonerated, prosecutors say.
Kevin Strickland was just 18 when the lone survivor of a 1978 shotgun attack inside a Kansas City house identified him as one of the gunmen. Cynthia Douglas was shot in the leg in an assault that killed three others Sherrie Black, John Walker, and Larry Ingram.
Missouri lawmakers repeal KC police residency, empower prosecutors in innocence cases Jonathan Shorman, Jeanne Kuang, Bryan Lowry, and Steve Vockrodt, The Kansas City Star
May 13 JEFFERSON CITY Missouri lawmakers on Thursday struck down a rule that Kansas City police officers live in the city, approving a criminal justice overhaul that also bans officers from using chokeholds.
The General Assembly s passage of the measure represents a victory for Kansas City police officers who have unsuccessfully pushed to lift the residency requirement in the past, even as the legislature removed similar rules for St. Louis.
But it marks a blow for Mayor Quinton Lucas and other civic leaders who had urged lawmakers to keep the rule in place. They argued requiring the department s more than 1,300 officers to live in the city they patrol fosters better relationships with residents.
Prosecutors in Missouri said the evidence used to convict Kevin Strickland of capital murder for a triple homicide as a teenager has since been eviscerated and he must be released at once.
/ Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Monday that a Kansas City man imprisoned for 43 years is innocent and should be freed immediately.
Kevin Strickland, now 62, was convicted of a triple murder in 1978 on the testimony of one eyewitness and sentenced to a “hard 50.” Strickland always said he was innocent.
A Kansas City man who was convicted of a 1978 triple murder on the word of one eyewitness must be freed immediately, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Monday.
Kevin Strickland, now 62, deserves to be exonerated because he did not commit the murders, Baker said. The case against him relied on the testimony of a woman who witnessed the murders and later recanted.