Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Man Freed After 11 Years In Prison For A Murder He May Not Have Committed
A man who was sentenced to 40-years-to-life in prison for fatally shooting a young woman in a parking lot was released today, as new evidence indicates he may not have committed the crime.
Raymond Lee Jennings, now 42, was arrested in December of 2005 for the murder of 18-year-old Michelle O'Keefe. Today, he walked free just before 3 p.m., City News Service reports.
The L.A. County District Attorney's Office's Conviction Review Unit, which formed last summer to focus on possible wrongful convictions, made the request after looking into the case. Perhaps most notably, there was no physical evidence linking Jennings to the murder, and the murder weapon was never located.
Deputy DA Robert Grace said to the judge, "We are prepared to say that the people no longer have confidence in the conviction based upon what we feel is third-party culpability."
Support for LAist comes from
On February 22, 2000, Jennings, who had served as an Army National Guardsman and in the Iraq war, was working as a security guard at a Palmdale park-and-ride lot. He reported hearing gunshots and seeing O'Keefe's car roll backwards. When he reached the car, he found her sitting slumped in the driver's seat of her Ford Mustang. He said he did not see who attacked her. Investigators discovered the young Antelope Valley College student, who had left her car in the lot while she worked as an extra in a Kid Rock music video in Los Angeles, had been shot four times. Jennings was not arrested until 2005, and was not convicted until 2009.
Jennings' current attorney, Jeffrey Ehrlich, wrote in a letter to prosecutors that investigators failed to look into anyone else who was in the parking lot that night, including a man that a witness said she saw flee the lot. He also suggested that new evidence indicated O'Keefe may have been the victim of a robbery or attempted carjacking, the L.A. Times reports. Prosecutors in Jennings' trial put forth the theory that Jennings had made a pass at O'Keefe, then shot when she rejected him.
At the time of his conviction in 2009, his lawyer, David Houchin, advocated for his client's innocence. He claimed that jurors were given cuts from interview transcripts that the judge had said could not be used in trial, and that after two previous trials in which jurors deadlocked, Jennings was only convicted after the trial was moved to Lancaster. This was closer to where O'Keefe's family lived. He told NBC Los Angeles that Jennings was one of very few clients he'd represented that he believed was factually innocent.
Despite the lack of physical evidence, detectives found it odd that Jennings claimed that O'Keefe was still alive when he found her, but that he chose not to perform CPR on her because he did not want to contaminate the crime scene. They also said he changed his account a few times and seemed to know specific details how O'Keefe was killed. However, his defense argued he was merely speculating when questioned, and medical experts later revealed that one of Jennings' answers was wrong.
O'Keefe's father, Michael O'Keefe, said that he still believes Jennings murdered his daughter. "There's a lot of information that I don't know about. Just based on what I know, the fact is Mr. Jennings is still guilty until proven otherwise," he said.
Jennings must return to court on August 24 for a status conference. According to Bakersfield Now, he has to wear an electronic monitoring device for the time being. Ehrlich said that if prosecutors are unable to find any additional evidence against Jennings in 60 days, the conviction will be overturned.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars. -
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Best of LAist