(TW: Death, Emotional)
Not much is known about his childhood, but he was by no means a model citizen. He had plead guilty to murder on another count. This did not change the evidence in the case that ended his life.
Quintin Moss, a well-known drug dealer, was 19 when shot 13 times in a drive-by shooting.
Wallace Connors, a bystander who happened to know him, was shot as well. Griffin said he was not among the men who drove up and shot them. Griffin was never called during trial, by the prosecution or the defense.
The witness who ultimately secured his conviction was Robert Fitzgerald, a professional criminal with a number of pending felony charges. Fitzgerald was released the day he was convicted.
A Missouri Supreme Court justice said of Mr. Fitzgerald: "The only eyewitness to the murder had a seriously flawed background, and his ability to observe and identify the gunman was also subject to question."
Not a stitch of physical evidence, nor any other witnesses connected him to the crime. It was Fitzgerald alone who ensured his death.
He maintained his innocence until his death. He wrote to then Governor Mel Carnahan in a plea for his life writing, “I pray you find out the truth before long, or otherwise I will surely be executed for something I just did not do”.
During a 1993 appeals hearing, Fitzgerald recanted, claiming police coercion into incriminating him by showing a singular picture. Police told Fitzgerald, “We happen to know who did it”.
Even the officer who previously claimed to have found Fitzgerald at the scene of the crime tending to Moss recanted, having never seen Fitzgerald at all. Other bystanders, including the victim’s sister, never saw Fitzgerald either.
Despite all evidence, he was executed by lethal injection on June 21, 1995.
The NAACP conducted a year-long independent investigation following his death and found substantial evidence proving his innocence. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney officially reopened his case, only it was too late.
He is Larry Griffin. He lost his life in the name of "justice".