Who is Kevin Strickland and why is he still in Missouri prison after innocence claims?
Kevin Strickland has spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder in Kansas City that prosecutors now say he did not commit. Stricklands case and his fight for freedom have received national attention. Here, we answer some of your questions about him. Kevin Strickland, 18 at the time, was living with his family at 5540 Jackson Ave. in Kansas City when he was arrested. He had dropped out of Southeast High School and had recently applied to join the military. He figured he could see the world and marry his girlfriend that way. He was also the father of a 7-week-old daughter. Strickland has maintained his innocence in the April 25, 1978, shooting at 6934 S. Benton Ave. that left 20-year-old John Walker, 22-year-old Sherrie Black and 21-year-old Larry Ingram dead. A fourth victim, the only eyewitness to the crime, was wounded. Kevin Strickland speaks to The Star on Nov. 5, 2019, at Western Missouri Correctional Center. James Wooldridge jawooldridge@kcstar.com  Now 62, Strickland has said he was at home at the time, watching TV and talking on the phone to his girlfriend. The only eye witness to the killings later recanted her testimony, saying Strickland had been wrongly charged. He remains behind bars at a prison in Cameron, Missouri. The most damning evidence against Strickland came from the eyewitness, 20-year-old Cynthia Douglas. At trial, Douglas said there was no question Strickland was one of the four gunmen. On the night of the killings, she told police she could only identify two of the four suspects: Vincent Bell and Kilm Adkins. She identified Strickland the next day after she described a shotgun-wielding suspect to her sisters boyfriend, who suggested that perpetrator might be Strickland. Then 18, Kevin Strickland, far right, stands for a lineup April 26, 1978, at the Kansas City Police Department. Cynthia Douglas, the lone eyewitness to the shooting, identified Strickland at the lineup, but later told relatives she was pressured into doing so. Photo: Jackson County Prosecutor  Stricklands first trial in 1979 ended in a hung jury of 11 to one, with the only Black juror holding out for acquittal. He was convicted two months later by an all-white jury. Douglas later recanted her testimony. In an investigation published in September, The Star reported that, for decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the killings swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the shooting. A third suspect, who was never charged, in 2019 said he knew Strickland was innocent. Douglas, the eyewitness who recanted, also told relatives she wanted nothing more than to see Strickland freed. After a months-long review, the Jackson County Prosecutors Office in May said that it had determined Strickland is factually innocent. The regions top prosecutors called for his exoneration and immediate release. Additionally, federal prosecutors in western Missouri, Jackson Countys presiding judge, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and members of the team that convicted Strickland four decades ago now all agree he deserves to be exonerated. Earlier this week, 13 state lawmakers called on Gov. Mike Parson to pardon Strickland. Parson, however, has indicated that Stricklands clemency application would not be a priority in a backlog of about 3,000 requests. Even though Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has called for Stricklands release, prosecutors in Missouri have no legal tools to seek to free prisoners they have deemed innocent. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called for the release of Kevin Strickland Monday during a news conference. A months long review by the prosecutors office determined that Strickland did not commit the triple murder he was convicted of in 1978. He has spent more than 40 years in prison for the crime. Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com  That could change on Aug. 28, if a bill on Parsons desk is signed into law. Baker could then file a motion in Jackson County asking a judge to exonerate Strickland, which she has said she intends to do. Earlier this month, the Missouri Supreme Court declined to hear Stricklands case, so his attorneys refiled his petition in DeKalb County, which is where he remains imprisoned. Since he was sentenced in June 1979, Strickland has spent 41 years, 11 months and 13 days in Missouri prisons. Thats 15,322 days total. If he is exonerated, he will have suffered one of the longest wrongful imprisonments acknowledged in U.S. history, and by far the longest in Missouri.