Marvin Hayes was 16 when he was arrested by Minneapolis Police and questioned by investigators. You can hear him on a recording of the police interview, crying that he didn't do it.
Hayes was ultimately found guilty of killing 55-year-old Randy Sherer in his family's flower shop in north Minneapolis.
He has insisted over thegre years, that he is innocent, and now his family has found new hope, as the Great North Innocence Project has taken up his case.
"Evidence shows that Marvin did not committ that crime," said his sister Marvina.
"The facts relating to this case are particularly strong, especially when it comes to the eyewitness," Marvina told WCCO.
She says there was no physical evidence tying Marvin to the shots that killed the man, and the only person who saw everything unfold died in 2020.
His sister added that Marvin did not match the description eyewitnesses gave. She says she's hopeful with a new county attorney and the Innocence Project that they could soon see Marvin a free man.
So far, the Great North Innocence Project has freed ten people who were in prison for crimes they did not commit. These people spent a combined 113 years behind bars due to wrongful convictions.
Since its inception in 2001, the Great North Innocence Project has represented people who they say were wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit. They also educate attorneys and criminal justice professionals on best practices, and work to reform the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions and other unjust results in criminal cases.