Have a happy holiday? That's cool. Darryl Burton did, too. He got to spend Christmas with his daughter for the first time in 24 years.
The last time Burton saw his daughter, Tynesha Lee, she was 2 years old. Their relationship was put on a 24-year pause after Burton was sent to prison for a St. Louis murder he didn't commit. He was exonerated and released on August 29, 2008 -- his first year of freedom is profiled here -- and moved to Kansas City. Burton and Lee met in St. Louis and spent Christmas with the rest of Burton's family.
Burton brought Lee, now 26, the first Christmas present he's ever been able to give her in person: a Barbie doll. It's symbolic of a childhood spent apart from a father who wanted very much to be there for his little girl.
Lee had a rough time without Burton. She bounced from St. Louis to her
grandmother's house in Indiana with her mother and two siblings. When
her grandmother died, the family moved to Georgia, where they sometimes
lived without electricity or running water. Lee was placed in foster
care. She emancipated herself from state custody when she was 17.
Lee told the St. Louis American, "I relocated and went to Atlanta, Georgia, where I went to Morris Brown College,
and after three years they lost their accreditation. My mother had
moved to Indianapolis five years prior, and I followed her to
Indianapolis. And that's where my father located me."
Now,
Burton and Lee can forge the father-daughter bond that the state
stunted 24 years ago. The state isn't required to compensate him,
though it should. In the meantime, Burton and Lee finally have a memory of a Christmas together, and that is pretty priceless.
Showing 1-1 of 1
like
dislike
