Minnesota Frees Myon Burrell, Jailed for Life as a Teen, 18 Years Later

Minnesota's pardon board decided Tuesday to free a Black man who was sent to prison for life as a teenager in a high-profile murder case that raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away.

Myon Burrell's case made headlines earlier this year after 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.

Burrell went before the Minnesota Board of Pardons with a request for a pardon and commutation to time already served. He said the request "is 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."

The board commuted his sentence to 20 years, with the remainder to be served on supervised release. He was expected to be released from the state's Stillwater prison Tuesday night. The board did not pardon Burrell.

A unanimous vote is normally required by the governor, attorney general and the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea has recused herself from the decision.

Gov. Tim Walz 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."

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 16 when he was sentenced 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.

Burrell's petition was accompanied by testimony from community leaders and letters from other young men in prison attesting to his strong character and moral leadership behind bars.

"I just tried to be the best human being that I could be in hopes that one day I would be given the opportunity to go home and live life as a productive member of society," Burrell told the panel in a Zoom video call from inside the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater.

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."

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