A man who spent 12 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit was found shot to death only two blocks from his home.
Via People:
The Innocence Project New Orleans confirms that Cedric Willis, 44, was found dead on June 24, on the street in his Jackson, Mississippi, neighborhood.
In 2006, the Innocence Project New Orleans helped exonerate Willis, who had been working as a motivational speaker before he died.
In 1994, when he was 19, Willis was arrested shortly after the birth of his son, accused of raping a woman during an armed robbery and murdering a man during a separate incident.
Despite initially giving completely contradictory descriptions of the suspect, the victims falsely identified Willis as the perpetrator.
He long professed his innocence, but Willis wouldn’t be freed until 2006, after he was awarded a second trial and a judge cleared him of any wrongdoing.
“Cedric was very shy and very wary,” attorney Emily Maw of Innocence Project New Orleans told the Clarion-Ledger, recalling their first meeting. “He’d come to the point where he didn’t really trust or believe anyone remembered that he was there except his mom and his family.”
“It took a while for him to trust that we were going to stick around and get this done,” she said.
“He was a very low-key guy dealing with an awful lot: the unimaginable wrong and pain he suffered and the difficulty of being a black man in Jackson, Mississippi,” Maw added.
Willis was killed on his way home.
Police have not made any arrests and are working to develop a motive for the crime.
This is heartbreaking. If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact the Jackson, MS Police at (601) 960-1234. Rest in Peace Cedric.
