Innocent Black Woman Free After Serving 23 Years For A Murder She Didn't Commit

Between crooked cops, shady judges, and folks who couldn't tell Wesley Snipes from Suge Knight in a line-up, it is not uncommon to hear stories of Black men spending years in prison for crimes they didn't commit. 

This time, though, the story is about a Black woman. Tyra Patterson of Ohio spent 23 years in prison for the 1994 murder of 15-year-old Michelle Lai—even though she wasn't the one who pulled the trigger. 

Patterson, now in her mid-40s, was finally released on parole on Christmas Day. "It felt real when I kissed the ground," Tyra told Fox45's Shavon Anderson hours after her release. "When I kissed my freedom and thanked God, that's when I knew I was free."

All's well that ends well, right?

Maybe, but this is still a story you have to read to believe. 

In 1994, Patterson was with a group of girls who decided to jump another group of girls and rob them, the Guardian reports. Patterson was only 19-years-old when LaShawna Keeney, then 21, opened fire on the girls, fatally shooting Lai in the head. 

 A Change.org petition cites evidence which proves that not only didn't Patterson pull the trigger, she didn't even take part in the robbery.  It didn't matter to the jury, though. Because of an Ohio law—which states that participating in a robbery that leads to someone’s murder leaves you liable for the murder—Patterson ended up spending more time in prison than Keeney. It didn't matter that trigger-happy Keeney confirmed that Patterson wasn't involved. It didn't matter that Kellie Johnson, another 'Set It Off' wanna-be, also confirmed that Patterson wasn't involved. 

It also didn't matter that Patterson recanted an earlier confession confirming her participation in the robbery because she was coerced into confessing in the first place.

None of it mattered because in Ohio, ain't no such thing as half-way crooks. If you're hanging with killers, you're a killer. Period.  Patterson has not been exonerated; she was just released on parole. Still, she is grateful for all of the support she's received from so many people, including: law enforcement, celebrities, and even the victim's sister, who was there the night of the robbery.

 "If ya'll don't hear nothing else, I'm begging ya'll, she don't need to be in there," Holly Lai Holbrook said in a previous interview. 

What's next for Patterson? Well, she's about to start her new job at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, the same agency that's helped to fight her case.

Moral of the story? You gots to be more careful.