A Black teen convicted of murder when Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a Minnesota prosecutor was released from prison Tuesday after spending 18 years in prison. A pardon board determined the sentence for Myon Burrell, 34, was inappropriate for a child, the Star Tribune reported. Dressed in an Islamic thobe, he told supporters who had gathered outside of Stillwater prison to celebrate his release that he can't express his gratitude. "We're fighting for justice,” he said. “There's too much injustice going on."
His son Myon Burrell Jr. was 1 year old when his dad was arrested and accused of killing 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, who was hit by a stray bullet while doing homework at a dining room table in 2002. The senior Burrell has maintained his innocence, supported by a telling Associated Press investigation and a subsequent independent probe. "This was the best feeling I ever had," 19-year-old Myon Burrell Jr., said. "I've been waiting for that my whole life, since I was one years old. Now that he's out, he ain't never going back!"
Burrell was 16-years-old when prosecutors from then-Hennepin County District Attorney Klobuchar's office led the case against the teen. They had no gun, fingerprints, or DNA evidence suggesting he was the killer. In fact, the case rested largely on the testimony of rival gang members of Burrell’s, but Klobuchar was so convinced of his guilt she refused to let him go to his mother's funeral, the Associated Press reported. “This is what needs to happen when there is this kind of gun, gang violence,” Klobuchar said when Burrell was convicted in 2003.
Although Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman believes Burrell is guilty and fought for him to serve another 12 years in prison, Klobuchar said in a recent statement the Star Tribune obtained that she supports the pardon board's decision. "This was the right and just decision, and I thank the Pardon Board for their work," she said in the statement. "Along with others, I had asked for the independent investigation of this case, and as I said when the report was first released, the sentence deserved immediate review. That happened today."
Burrell told the pardon board that since his arrest he became a practicing Muslim, earned his GED, and went on to mentor other inmates. "I started going in and extracting medicine out of the poison," he said. "The trials and tribulations I was going through, I tried to get something out of it." He continued to maintain his innocence but said he understood the board could not vacate sentences. "I'm just asking you guys for the opportunity to go home and contribute to society," he said. "I believe I have a whole lot to offer, and if you give me the opportunity, I'll do so."
An attorney from the University of Minnesota Child Advocacy & Juvenile Justice Clinic and Moriearty represented Burrell and argued the difference in brain development between children and adults before the board, which met virtually. Gov. Tim Walz, who’s on the board, recommended commuting Burrell's life term to 20 years and allowing him to serve the two years remaining on supervised release, the Star Tribune reported. "We can't shackle our children in 2020," Walz said. "We need to grow as our science grows."
RELATED: Klobuchar asked to suspend campaign after probe suggests she may have put innocent teen in jail
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[Edited to clarify Sen. Klobuchar was not the lead prosecutor on the case, but was the District Attorney in charge of prosecuting attorneys]