After 28 Years Behind Bars, Boston Man Exonerated As Truth About Corruption Emerges

A Black man wrongfully convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk in Boston in 1998 was released this month after 28 years in prison, as prosecutors informed a Suffolk County Superior Court judge that he had not received a fair trial and warranted a retrial.Rickey “Fuquan” McGee was only 19 when he was accused of killing clerk Geta Yalew, an Ethiopian immigrant, during a robbery. The evidence was scant; no video, fingerprints, or eyewitness accounts were available to corroborate the case. However, police claimed that two individuals testified that McGee confessed to the murder.Despite his defense arguing that the witnesses were unreliable, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, resulting in a life sentence. Following years of legal study and activism, McGee filed a motion for a new trial based on new evidence, including claims that police encouraged witness testimony against him.Prosecutors later acknowledged potential miscarriages of justice, ultimately allowing McGee to await further court decisions as a free man.