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

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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.

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