BAYPORT, Minn. — A Black man who was sentenced to life behind bars as a teenager walked out of a Minnesota prison Tuesday to the sound of ringing bells and cheers from supporters, hours after a pardons board commuted his sentence in a high-profile murder case.
Myon Burrell’s case, and his age at the time of the killing, raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away. Earlier this year, The Associated Press and American Public Media uncovered new evidence and serious flaws in the police investigation into the 2002 killing of an 11-year-old girl who was hit by a stray bullet while doing homework at her dining room table.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted to commute his sentence to 20 years, with the remaining two years to be served on supervised release. Dozens of supporters braved below-freezing temperatures to greet Burrell as he took his first steps of freedom. Several began screaming, ringing cow bells and beating a drum as he walked out, cheering, “Myon’s free!”
Burrell, who was 16 when the killing happened, became emotional as the board voted. He put his hand on his head and said, “Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.”
His request for a commutation and a pardon, he said, was “not in any way, shape or form me trying to minimize the tragedy of the loss of” Tysha Edwards. “I come before you, a 34-year-old man who spent more than half of his life incarcerated for a crime I didn’t commit.”
Burrell spoke about his time in prison, saying he did not know what was going on when he was sentenced, and that he converted to Islam and became a religious leader while behind bars.
“I tried to make the best of my situation,” he said. “I started going in and extracting medicine out of the poison. The trials and tribulations I was going through, I tried to get something out of it.”
His request was accompanied by testimony from community leaders and letters from young men in prison, who attested to his strong character and moral leadership.
Jimmie Edwards III, Tyesha’s brother, told the AP that he and his family are upset with the decision. He said the justice system failed his family, and media coverage and support for Burrell’s release overshadows his sister’s death.
“She never got to go to her prom. She never got to go to college. She never got to go to junior high school or high school,” he said. “Her life was taken away at 11. Who’s the victim?”
Gov. Tim Walz, a member of the board, recommended the commuted sentence, saying science has found and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that teenage minds work differently than those of adults, and that a life sentence for a teenager is too extreme.
“While this board is not a fact finder, it does have the power to determine when justice is served through the power of clemency and mercy,” Walz said, adding: “We cannot turn a blind eye to the developments in science and law as we look at this case.”
Myon Burrell embraces his son, Myon Jr., moments after he was released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Bayport, Minn., on Tuesday. Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP
Last week, an independent panel of national legal experts also recommended Burrell’s immediate release after reviewing the facts and all of the available evidence.
Burrell was convicted in the killing of Tyesha, a Black sixth grader who was shot through the heart inside her family’s south Minneapolis home. He always maintained his innocence, and another man has confessed to being the shooter.
Walz addressed the Edwards family during the hearing, saying: “We’re not here to relitigate the crime committed against your family that took your daughter away. There is nothing I can do to ease your pain, and it will not be made better. But we must act today to recognize the law in this area has changed. Justice is not served by incarcerating a child for his entire lifetime for a horrible mistake committed many years ago.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who was the city’s top prosecutor at the time of the killing, has used Burrell’s conviction throughout her political career to tout her record of being tough on crime. She raised it again last year on the stage of the Democratic presidential primary debate.
The AP’s yearlong investigation showed there was no hard evidence – no gun, DNA or fingerprints – tying Burrell to the shooting. Among other things, police did not collect a corner store’s surveillance video, which Burrell said could have cleared him. And video footage showed the lead homicide detective offering a man in police custody $500 for Burrell’s name, even if it was just hearsay.
Burrell’s co-defendants said the teenager was not at the scene that day.
Klobuchar released a statement saying the board made the right decision. She also urged a conviction review unit to continue investigating the facts.
New questions about Burrell’s case surfaced just before Minneapolis was thrust into the national spotlight after a police officer held his knee against George Floyd’s neck outside a convenience store as Floyd gasped for breath. It was the same Cup Foods store that Burrell said could have provided his alibi if surveillance tapes had been pulled.
Floyd’s death sparked racial injustice protests and put renewed focus on some law enforcement practices from the 1990s and early 2000s, when harsher policing and tougher sentencing led to the highest lock-up rates in the nation’s history. Those incarcerations hit minority communities the hardest.
Under public pressure after the AP report, Klobuchar threw her support behind the creation of the independent panel, saying it was just as important to protect the innocent as punish the guilty. In its report, the panel raised concerns about the police investigation that mirrored many of those uncovered by the AP.
The panel’s report said officers suffered from “tunnel vision” while pursuing Burrell as a suspect, homing in on evidence that supported their theory of guilt and ignoring that which may have helped him. Officers relied heavily on a single eyewitness, who offered conflicting accounts, along with jailhouse informants, who benefited generously for testifying.
The panel said it saw no purpose served by keeping Burrell locked up. It pointed to his age at the time of the crime, said he had no prior record and that he behaved well behind bars. It also cited U.S. Supreme Court rulings in recent years that argued against overly harsh sentences for juveniles because their brains and decision-making skills are not fully developed.
“In considering the sentence, we became profoundly aware of how our nation has changed in the way we consider juveniles who become enmeshed in the criminal justice system,” Mark Osler, who chaired the panel, wrote in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this past weekend.
Burrell was jailed during an era “marked by racially charged fearmongering about young ‘super-predators’ who would be violent for the entirety of their lives,” Osler wrote.
Edwards III, Tyesha’s brother, said news of Burrell’s release is especially hard after the death of his mother last year.
“When she lost our sister, it took her away. She was never able to recover,” he said of his mother. “I’m glad my mom is not here to witness this, because it would just break her heart.”
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