I was not only misidentified, I was also wrongly accused and charged for a fatal shooting on January 13, 1999. The charge came to be after a lone survivor identified me in a photo line up the following day. My photo was placed in the lineup due to; my close proximity of the crime, a third-party eye-witness report from a competitive drug dealer’s consumer. As well as due to my prior incarceration in August of 1998, which occurred when my neighbor called the police accusing me of carrying a firearm and assault and battery. Those charges lead to a pending trial for attempted murder. Four months later, a false report created by a scornful drug addict; motivated by vengeance, filing a false rape report. All of which left me as a person of interest in the polices’ mind.
Once I was identified the police made their arrest. I was interrogated for hours while the police were searching for a probable cause link in the case to make their charges stick. While in their custody police obtained a statement from Dwayne Taylor and wrote a false statement for my father. The police used the statement to accuse me of confessing the murder to my own father. Collectively the police used both in combination to prove my involvement and convict me of the murder.
My luck turned from bad to worse when on January 21, 1999 when multi-level law enforcement team up; FBI, ATF and DPD (Detroit Police Department) took me down to police headquarters. I was informed by, what at that time I assumed was the arresting officer, that I was being charged with first degree murder. The police went by my criminal record to create a list of suspects prior to contacting their eyewitness, Wanda Hall. When law enforcement located Ms. Hall, they informed her that she was needed in order to confirm the murderer. Through this tactic I believe the investigators gave their bias of the crime to the neighborhood. As a result, making my photo the face of the crime and thus general knowledge.
With their evidence and the eye-witness accounts my photo was included in the lineup. The day that followed gave the investigators more than enough time to spread their rumors and ideas about the investigation. The police ignored the fact that their witness, Wanda Hall, pointed out that she overheard the officers speculations of me while investigating the case. Ms. Hall admitted to hiding from the police in a drug den and paid for her and a friend to get high after the shooting. Ms. Hall agreed that she hide directly across the street from the murder and heard every word. Wanda Hall was aided by a woman named, Diane Holmes, who kept Wanda from capture.
Diane was investigated by the police, during that time she was informed about the murder and was informed that Wanda Hall had an existing arrest warrant. Ms. Holmes informed the police that she was unaware of Wanda Hall or of her location. As a result this derailed their investigation. Later Diane found out that Wanda Hall was not to share any charges from the murder investigation and was comforted in knowing the police only needed her (Wanda Hall) cooperation. Secure in that knowledge Wanda refused to testify until pressured by both family and police.
My photo was one of five that was shown to Ms. Hall. Police gave their details about the case to Wanda Hall. My photo was the only one that looked familiar to Ms. Hall. No one else in the neighborhood with priors or drug dealers were included in the lineup. Due to this oversight my photo was obviously selected. The police saying, “They knew who the shooter was!” Based on their description of a light-skinned black man in the area.