By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
A man who spent over 27 years in prison until a judge determined he was wrongfully convicted, has filed a lawsuit against St. Louis Police on Wednesday, alleging that he was detained, arrested, and framed for a murder he did not commit.
The 50-year-old Missouri man, Lamar Johnson, seeks unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
The city and eight police officers were named in the lawsuit.
“I am grateful to be free and I’m doing my best to make up for all the time that was stolen from me and my family, especially my daughters.
“I want to put this dark and painful chapter behind me, but there can be no healing without answers and accountability,” Johnson’s said in a statement provided by his lawyers.
According to Johnson’s attorney, Emma Freudenberger, after the Court declared his innocence, there have been no apologies and no consequences.
His attorney further stated that the City of St. Louis cannot continue to simply ignore the glaring police misconduct that has caused Mr. Johnson and his family so much harm and pain.
On October 1994, one Marcus Boyd was shot dead on his front porch by two masked men.
Police and prosecutors accused Johnson of killing him in a dispute over drug money.
Johnson, however, maintained his innocence from the outset but was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, in August 2022, filed a motion seeking Johnson’s release after an investigation her office conducted with help from Innocence Project convinced her he was innocent.
At a hearing in December 2022, another man confessed that it was he and not Johnson who joined a second man in the killing of Boyd.
The witness further revealed that he was bullied and pressured by police into naming Johnson as one of the shooters.
Also, Johnson’s girlfriend at the time of the crime testified that they were together that night except for about a five-minute span, which was not enough time for Johnson to get to Boyd’s home.
St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason, in February last year, ruled that the conviction was wrongful, and Johnson was freed.
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