A man who spent 25 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit was cleared of wrongdoing last week.
Jabar Walker was sentenced to 50 years to life after being accused of the mid-1990s deaths of William Santana Guzman and Ismael De La Cruz. After decades in prison, he was exonerated in Manhattan, New York, on Nov. 27 by way of a reinvestigation effort by DA Alvin Bragg’s office and the Innocence Project.
“Not only was the case against Jabar Walker built upon unreliable and recanted testimony, he did not have the benefit of an effective defense attorney — one of the constitutional bedrocks of our criminal justice system,” Bragg said in a statement, per ABC News. “Despite these serious issues, Mr. Walker received a sentence that could have kept him in prison for his entire life. I am thrilled he can now finally return home, and thank the Innocence Project for its steadfast advocacy throughout this matter.”
In May 1995, victims Guzman and De La Cruz were fatally shot by a perp who was sitting in a double-parked vehicle in Manhattan on 148th Street, according to the organization. It was a “drug-related” hit, and an eyewitness told law enforcement that the suspect fled to a nearby building.
The case went cold but was reopened two years later following cooperation from a witness identified as Vanessa Vigo.
While investigating a separate case, NYPD detectives asked Vigo if she had any intel on the 1995 double homicide, and she blamed Walker for the crime, per the Innocence Project. The next day, she wrote out a statement, claiming that Walker fired two shots at the victim and was known to use the moniker “Snoop” or “Black” — which was a smoking gun because they received tips that the shooter used the nickname Black.
The reinvestigation into the case revealed that Walker was not known by that nickname, that Vigo was inconsistent with her testimony, and that she had misidentified people in a separate shooting case. Also, according to the organization, the prosecution gave her money for her apartment for her testimony against Walker.
In a handwritten statement, Walker mentioned his alibi the night of the shooting, telling police that he was in Queens at the time of the incident and returned to the area with his friend the following day when he learned what happened, the organization said. The police did not confirm Walker’s whereabouts with the witness who backed his explanation.
According to the Innocence Project, Walker never mentioned going by the “Black,” but a detective facility wrote that he did in his written statement. The reinvestigation revealed that another witness to the shooting, Carlos Young, told law enforcement that Walker was not behind the incident and that he saw another person carry out the crime. Another unidentified person, dubbed Mr. Santiago, did not identify him as the shooter and wasn’t called as a witness during the trial.
Despite this, Walker was accused of a murder-for-hire plot with De La Cruz as the target, while Guzman was an innocent bystander who got caught in the crossfire, per the Innocence Project.
John Mobley, who testified against Walker at the trial, admitted that he was strong-armed into blaming Walker as the assailant due to pressure from law enforcement while he was in jail. He also was concerned that they would pin the crime on him.
During this time, the organization noted, officers from the NYPD 30th Precinct were notorious for corruption.
Walker was offered a plea agreement but turned it down to go to trial. He told the judge: “I did not commit this crime, your Honor, and that’s why I came here to trial … because I’m 100 percent innocent… I did not kill those people.”
A video posted on TikTok by The Innocence Project shows Walker being heavily embraced following his exoneration.
