Christopher Dunn (born 1971) is an African American man who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1991 and exonerated in 2024.
Early life Dunn is the son of Martha Dunn and William Douglas Baker. After living in public housing, the family moved to a single family home in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood of St. Louis.
Murder conviction On May 19, 1990, around midnight, a 15-year-old boy named Recco Rogers was fatally shot in Dunn's neighborhood of Wells-Goodfellow, St. Louis. Two teenagers in the vicinity of the shooting, Michael Davis and DeMorris Stepp, identified Dunn as the shooter when interviewed by police. Dunn was charged with first-degree murder, assault, and weapons offenses.
Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1991.
Exoneration The two teenagers who had identified Dunn as the shooter later recanted their testimony. This led the St. Louis Circuit Attorney to file a motion to vacate the conviction in May 2023. This motion was filed under Section 547.031, a Missouri statute that allows prosecutors, when they have evidence that a person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted, to seek to vacate a conviction. This was important for this case, as Dunn had exhausted every other way to appeal.
Dunn was freed on July 30, 2024, after more than 30 years in prison.This source indicates Dunn was imprisoned for 33 years, but other sources make clear he was imprisoned for 34 years, from 1990 to 2024.
See also Innocence Project
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