She Was Wrongly Convicted Of Murder At Just 16-Years-Old And She Served 26 Years Behind Bars For This Crime She Never Committed
When she was just 16-years-old, LaQuanda “Faye” Jacobs was arrested and convicted for a crime she did not commit. She ended up spending half of her adult life in prison. Now free, she is trying to get her life back on track.
On February 9th, 1992, police in Little Rock, Arkansas, were investigating a case involving an aggravated robbery and shooting that had occurred in the afternoon.
Witnesses of the crime had described the shooter as a “woman in her thirties with scars under her eyes, wearing black pants and a black coat.”
The police ended up questioning and arresting 16-year-old Faye Jacobs one hour later while she was still wearing the white dress she had worn to church that same morning.
According to the Midwest Innocence Project, a foundation dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted and who represent Faye, there were an additional 5 witnesses who stated that Faye was not the shooter.
However, the jury never heard their testimonies because her defense attorneys never took the time to investigate the crime and speak to these eyewitnesses.
“Instead, Faye was convicted based on the testimony of the State’s two witnesses,” writes the Midwest Innocence Project.
One was a man who was incentivized and picked up on his own charges weeks later. The other was a “traumatized teenager” who couldn’t even recognize Faye after being shown a photograph of her twice.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Faye
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He had only provided her name when he heard it from others. Because of this and Faye being appointed what the Midwest Innocence Project describes as “woefully inadequate counsel,” she was convicted of capital murder as a 16-year-old and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The Midwest Innocence Project joined Faye’s case in 2014 and was determined to release her from prison.
After a featured story in The Nation and finally being resentenced in July 2018, Faye walked out of prison free but not exonerated.
Because she is no longer incarcerated, Faye cannot challenge her conviction in court and has to seek a pardon from the Governor of Arkansas. Additionally, she is not entitled to any compensation or any resources to begin her new life.
The Midwest Innocence Project has created a GoFundMe page to help support Faye in obtaining her everyday needs.
“Faye’s case exemplifies just how difficult it is to overturn a conviction in our justice system,” says Tricia Burnell, the Midwest Innocence Project’s executive director. “It should not be this hard, but she’s not done seeking justice and neither are we.”
You can read more about Faye’s story here.
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