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Here’s what’s been going on at the Innocence Project this month.
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Renay Lynch hugs her daughter and granddaughter after being freed in January 2022. (Image: Jeenah Moon/Innocence Project)
Renay Lynch Is Exonerated After Nearly 26 Years of Wrongful Conviction in Buffalo, New York
Renay Lynch was exonerated in Buffalo, NY nearly 26 years after she was wrongly convicted for the 1995 murder and robbery of her landlord. Released from prison in January 2022, Ms. Lynch is now the 250th person to be freed by the Innocence Project since its founding in 1992. “I have waited 26 years for this day to come,” said Ms. Lynch. “That’s days without seeing my children grow up, days without holding my grandchildren, days that I will never get back. I’m grateful to finally have this weight lifted.”
Learn more about how police misconduct and coercion led to Renay’s quarter-century of wrongful conviction and incarceration.
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Marcellus Williams. (Image: Courtesy of Marcellus Williams’ legal team)
Stop the Execution of an Innocent Man. Marcellus Williams Needs You.
For the past 24 years, Innocence Project and Midwest Innocence Project client Marcellus Williams has been on death row in Missouri for a crime that DNA evidence proves he did not commit.
Despite evidence that should clear Marcellus’s name, the Missouri Attorney General continues to seek an execution date. Even the prosecutor in the county where he was convicted, Wesley Bell, is seeking to vacate Marcellus’s murder conviction altogether. We’re looking to spread the story of Marcellus’s case and raise public awareness about his innocence before it’s too late.
As of today, he has no set execution date, but that could change at any moment. We can’t allow the state of Missouri to make this unthinkably cruel and irreversible mistake.
Will you sign this petition today and then share Marcellus’ story with your friends and family online to help stop his execution before it’s too late?
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 Kenny Karpov/Innocence Project
Celebrate Our Black Exonerees this Black History Month. Invite Them to Speak at Your Next Event.
As Black History Month begins, our team is reflecting on how the flaws in our country’s criminal legal system disproportionately impact the freedom, joy, and well-being of Black life in the U.S. An astonishing 50%+ of the 3,454 people who have been exonerated since 1989 are Black (National Registry of Exonerations). The percentage of Black exonerees is even higher on death row (Death Penalty Information Center).
Black History Month is a unique opportunity to learn from the knowledge and expertise of Black exonerees who’ve navigated these injustices firsthand and to celebrate their strength and resilience. Our roster of speakers boasts a wealth of experts and exonerees with intimate insight into our criminal legal system, and we’re eager to bring their compelling stories directly to you. Can you make space for an exoneree to speak at your Black History Month event? Browse through our list and book a speaker today — in-person or virtual options are available.
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