Independent Panel of Legal Experts Call on New Minnesota CRU to Investigate Myon Burrell’s 2002 Conviction

An independent panel of national legal experts has raised serious concerns about the conviction and sentence of Myon Burrell for the 2002 shooting death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Experts argue that no purpose is served by Mr. Burrell’s continued incarceration and recommend that his case be investigated by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office’s newly established Conviction Review Unit (CRU). Mr. Burrell, who was 16 years old at the time of the shooting in South Minneapolis but was charged as an adult, has now served 18 years of his life sentence. 

The independent panel, formed in July 2020, was convened by Laura Nirider, co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project and professor of law at Cardozo School of Law, who brought together a powerful body of experts to review the case.  

Read the findings here.