Watch
NewsAmerica in Crisis

Actions

Murder charge dismissed against Mississippi man who served 25 years in prison

items.[0].image.alt
Santos Chaparro/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wooden gavel and stand (ca. 1920s) used by the Associated Press Board of Directors at their meetings throughout the 20th century. (AP Photo/Corporate Archives/Santos Chaparro)
Gavel generic
Posted at 9:27 AM, Jan 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-12 12:27:36-05

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi judge has dismissed a murder charge against a Black man who spent more than a quarter-century on death row.

Eddie Lee Howard was convicted of capital murder in the 1992 stabbing death of an 84-year-old woman. District Attorney Scott Colom says Monday that prosecutors are dropping the murder charge.

Colom says a dentist’s bite-mark testimony used to convict Howard has been discredited.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in August that Howard deserved a new trial. He was freed from death row in December.

Attorneys say Howard has now been released from prison.

Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bakersfield Condors Blackout Cancer Night Ticket Sweepstakes

Enter to Win Tickets