A year ago, Darryl Burton walked out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center wearing state-issued gray pants and a white T-shirt. Today, on the anniversary of his release, he's slipping on a gold suit from Harold Pener.
Tonight, Burton will be honored at the West Side Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. The church's Page Avenue façade features a mural depicting a black-haired Jesus with his arms spread wide, one hand hovering over the flesh of a halved watermelon. This part of the city has a rough reputation, but on this cooler-than-average August afternoon, kids are in the streets, the Cardinals game is on the radio, and the closest thing to a hustler is a guy selling Michael Jackson tribute shirts from his porch.
Inside, sunlight streams through stained-glass windows and bathes the sanctuary. Purple, white and gold balloons bump one another in the building's aggressive air conditioning. Valerie Thomas, who grew up six doors down from Burton's family, decorated the church in colors of royalty. She's Burton's girlfriend and, like his growing collection of supporters, she sees him as a symbol, as living proof that God hears our prayers.
On August 29, 2008, Burton was released from prison after serving 24 years of a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit. Some who have witnessed Burton's journey from convict to Christian convert believe that Burton's release was an act of God. But his first year of freedom has been equally miraculous. Less than 48 hours after his release, Burton relocated to Kansas City. Since then, his list of wealthy and powerful supporters — including the family of construction baron J.E. Dunn — would make a mayoral candidate jealous.
At the St. Louis celebration, sitting back as a mere observer isn't an option. Churchgoers wrap newcomers in fierce hugs and encourage clapping and singing. Fervent gospel music melds with the preachers' tremulous, booming voices. Later, the entertainment shifts to a nontraditional mix of rappers, mimes, techno musicians and modern dancers who draw the night out into a four-hour Christian variety show. By the time it's Burton's turn to speak, more than half of the crowd has gone home.
Burton has told his story before countless audiences over the past year, but tonight his voice brims with anger as he relates horrors that he usually leaves out. He talks about the time a prisoner in the yard took a metal pipe to a new inmate's head, declaring, "Welcome to prison, bitch." When he arrives at his usual message, about extinguishing his hatred with forgiveness, he gives off a renewed energy, as though plugged into a holy electrical socket.
After the party, Burton will come back to earth. He didn't just survive prison — he met other innocents there, too, victims of a flawed justice system. Now, he says, it's his calling to do something about it.
By now, many St. Louisans are familiar with the facts of Burton's case. In June 1984, not far from West Side Missionary Baptist, Donald "Moe" Ball was gunned down as he gassed up his green Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight at an Amoco station at the corner of Delmar and Goodfellow. Ball had been shot in the arm in this same neighborhood in 1983 by Jesse Watson, a rival in an ongoing turf war.
A month later, on the word of a street informant and a prison snitch, police arrested Burton, 22, a parolee who had spent two years in Jefferson City's Algoa Correctional Center for burglary. The two witnesses claimed to have seen Burton kill Ball, despite reports from other witnesses that the shooter was a light-skinned black man no taller than 5 feet 5 inches. Burton is 5 feet 10 and so dark-complected that his playground nickname was "Lights Out."
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This stinks. Now it's time to release the West Memphis Three incarcerated in Arkansas since 1994 wrongly. They have gotten a new trial and should be released after b/c of the new evidence.
GOD IS A MYTH DESIGNED BY THE CATHOLIC RELIGION SO THAT MAN WILL BE AFRAID OF SOMETHING AND BEHAVE WHILE HE IS ON EARTH ... AS FAR AS THE CATHOLIC RELIGION GOES, HOW CAN ANYONE HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR IT, WHEN THEY HIDE CHILD MOLESTING PRIESTS FROM THE LAW ON A DAILY BASIS, SO THE PRIESTS CAN REMAIN FREE TO MOLEST OTHER KIDS !!!!
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Terrible,this is so sad a man wasting his life in a cage because of our
incompetent judcial system,those who convicted him should spend the next 24 yrs of their
pathetic lives locked up.
please god, find all of the Darryll Burton's out there and restore some people's faith in the human kind...and your kindness, as well.
please god, find all of the Darryll Burton's out there and restore some people's faith in the human kind...and your kindness, as well.
I don't get it. An innocent man being released from prison after serving two decades is an act of God? Does that mean that God intended the false imprisonment to begin with. Was God powerless to intervene between then and the time of release. Was he indifferent until then? Was this his way of making Mr. Burton acknowledge his presence, and if so, why didn't he allow for the release following Mr. Burton's conversion? I understand (but could never appreciate) that his horrific error is the defining event of this man's life and that it's comforting to think that it's part of a larger benevolent (sp) plan rather than the forseeable worst case senario of a gravely flawed bureaucracy, but attributing the positive result to God but not the lengthy series of heart-breaking negative events than preceeded seems short-sighted.
I don't get it. An innocent man being released from prison after serving two decades is an act of God? Does that mean that God intended the false imprisonment to begin with. Was God powerless to intervene between then and the time of release. Was he indifferent until then? Was this his way of making Mr. Burton acknowledge his presence, and if so, why didn't he allow for the release following Mr. Burton's conversion? I understand (but could never appreciate) that his horrific error is the defining event of this man's life and that it's comforting to think that it's part of a larger benevolent (sp) plan rather than the forseeable worst case senario of a gravely flawed bureaucracy, but attributing the positive result to God but not the lengthy series of heart-breaking negative events than preceeded seems short-sighted.
One of the interesting article you have wrote Nadia.. :)
Regards,
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One of the interesting article you have wrote Nadia.. :) Regards, http://www.goldcoinsgain.com
He doesn't need to forgive me. If it were up to me, every prison on the planet would be burned to the ground and everyone who works for the so-called "justice" system would have to get an honest job.
He doesn't need to forgive me. If it were up to me, every prison on the planet would be burned to the ground and everyone who works for the so-called "justice" system would have to get an honest job.
The state has a moral and ethical responsibility to compensate those whose lives they've taken away through incompetent, deliberate indifference and malicious prosecution. Send those to prison who are responsible for wrongfully convicting a person. The lawyer should lose their license along with the DA's.
The state has a moral and ethical responsibility to compensate those whose lives they've taken away through incompetent, deliberate indifference and malicious prosecution. Send those to prison who are responsible for wrongfully convicting a person. The lawyer should lose their license along with the DA's.
It would be interesting if you followed up on him in a year or so. I had no idea the law only allows for compensation if he was cleared through DNA. It doesn't make sense. Over 20 years in prison, wrongfully convicted, and the state just sets him adrift to sink or swim. Thats the real crime in all of this.
It would be interesting if you followed up on him in a year or so. I had no idea the law only allows for compensation if he was cleared through DNA. It doesn't make sense. Over 20 years in prison, wrongfully convicted, and the state just sets him adrift to sink or swim. Thats the real crime in all of this.
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