Missouri May Execute An Innocent Black Man This Tuesday

Photo: Paul Crane/ MacArthur Justice Center

Missouri plans to execute Leonard “Raheem” Taylor on Tuesday, Feb. 7, despite evidence of his innocence.

This irreversible injustice is just days away from being carried out, and Gov. Mike Parson has the power to stop it. Call 573-400-0357 to urge the governor to grant Raheem a reprieve and appoint an independent board of inquiry to fully investigate his claim of innocence now.

Raheem was convicted of the 2004 murder of his girlfriend, Angela Rowe, and her three children — but he has maintained his innocence for nearly 20 years.

Based on the state medical examiner’s initial time of death estimation, Raheem could not have committed the murders because he was nearly 2,000 miles away, in California, meeting his 13-year-old daughter for the first time. His daughter, now an adult, said in a sworn statement that she remembers her father calling Angela during their visit and that she even spoke with her and one of her daughters over the phone.

But at trial, the medical examiner drastically changed the time of death estimation — widening the potential range of dates during which Angela and her children might have been killed — with no sound explanation. Yet, none of Raheem’s previous attorneys retained a forensic pathologist to review the medical examiner’s changing estimation until now.

Raheem deserves to have all of the evidence — both new and old — in this case and his claims of innocence examined before Missouri makes an irreversible mistake.

Please, take a moment to call Gov. Parson at 573-400-0357 and ask him to grant Raheem a reprieve so that all of the evidence in this case can be thoroughly examined, and then share this information on social media.

Read more about Leonard “Raheem” Taylor https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/missouri-plans-to-execute-raheem-...