Atlanta Teen Falsely Jailed For
Red Paint
|
Reported By: The
Associated Press
Last Modified: 10/19/2003
11:12:32 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- A 17-year-old
spent nearly five months in jail because he had paint on his T-shirt that looked
like blood.
Awot Gebreyesus was jailed April 25 because investigators believed he may have killed a 67-year-old double amputee. William Beeks was shot April 3 during a robbery in a neighborhood near Stone Mountain.
One teenager told police Gebreyesus bragged about killing a man. But three other witnesses told a judge Gebreyesus was with them at a home renovation site at the time of the killing.
It wasn't until Sept. 19 when Gebreyesus was released – after the state crime lab reported there was no blood on his shirt.
His attorney, Curtis Hubbard, said he visited Gebreyesus in jail.
"It was constantly, 'Mr. Hubbard, I did not do this, why can't they let me out?' ... The system was moving slow and it wasn't working for him," the lawyer said.
Police have not arrested anyone else in Beeks' death.
Awot Gebreyesus was jailed April 25 because investigators believed he may have killed a 67-year-old double amputee. William Beeks was shot April 3 during a robbery in a neighborhood near Stone Mountain.
One teenager told police Gebreyesus bragged about killing a man. But three other witnesses told a judge Gebreyesus was with them at a home renovation site at the time of the killing.
It wasn't until Sept. 19 when Gebreyesus was released – after the state crime lab reported there was no blood on his shirt.
His attorney, Curtis Hubbard, said he visited Gebreyesus in jail.
"It was constantly, 'Mr. Hubbard, I did not do this, why can't they let me out?' ... The system was moving slow and it wasn't working for him," the lawyer said.
Police have not arrested anyone else in Beeks' death.
(Copyright 2003 by The
Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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