A Minnesota man believes he has spent his adulthood in prison because he was railroaded by Senator Amy Klobuchar’s prosecution team nearly two decades ago.
Myon Burrell, 33, was only 16 years old when he was arrested and charged with killing 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. The girl died in 2002 when a stray bullet hit her as she sat in her house doing homework. Edward’s death shook the community, and law enforcement was determined to secure a conviction, according to an investigative report from The Associated Press.
Burrell was caught in the crosshairs when an experienced jailhouse informant implicated him after homicide detective Richard Zimmerman offered money for names, even if they stemmed from hearsay.
“Hearsay is still worth something to me,” Zimmerman said during the taped interrogation. “Sometimes … you get hearsay here, hearsay there. Sometimes it’s like a jigsaw puzzle, things come together, you know what I mean?”
Several others also named Burrell, including a teenage rival. Without any DNA evidence, fingerprints or murder weapon, the prosecution relied on witness testimony. Meanwhile, Burrell maintained his innocence and insisted he was at a local convenience store when Edwards was killed. He figured surveillance tapes from the store would exonerate him, but the defense didn’t present them.
“All the way until I went to trial — I believe that they had those tapes. And so then when I went to trial and [my lawyer] never presented them or they never it was just like, you know, I didn’t really know how to take it,” Burrell told ABC.
In May 2003, Burrell was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Two other men, Hans Williams and Ike Tyson, were also tried and convicted. Burrell’s conviction was thrown out in 2008 after officials determined he wasn’t properly mirandized and denied access to his mother. Klobuchar’s office charged him and he was convicted again. At the time of the conviction, Klobuchar was serving in the U.S. Senate.
When asked if he blamed Klobuchar, Burrell said she was partially responsible for snatching his freedom.
“Yes. I feel like she played a big part. Personally, I feel like she is the source of everything that happened with her charging me.”
Since Burrell has been convicted, witnesses have recanted their stories and claimed they were coached and coerced by law enforcement. Tyson has repeatedly confessed to the crime and insisted Burrell had nothing to do with it.
“There was only one weapon, one set of shells,” Tyson told AP. “I’m the one that did this. I did this.”
Klobuchar has bragged about her record during her campaigns for the Senate and the White House. She featured Edwards’ mom in a 2006 campaign commercial for her Senate run. Klobuchar also brought the case up during a September 2019 Democratic debate.
Her presidential aspirations placed renewed scrutiny on the Burrell case. After facing criticism for her office’s handling of the case, Klobuchar has admitted the case should be reviewed. However, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office stands by the convictions, according to a statement, and will only open the case if they receive new evidence.
Burrell continues to stand his ground, even though he could have taken a plea deal to reduce his sentence.
“I could put in an appeal and say, ‘hey, listen, give me less time and let me out right now,’” he said. “But then I would be taking responsibility for a crime I didn’t commit. And I can never do that.”
