KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City-based nonprofit Miracle of Innocence announced a new executive director Thursday.
Rev. Laura Guy has been hired by the nonprofit — which was founded by two wrongfully convicted, imprisoned and eventually exonerated men, Daryl Burton and Lamonte McIntyre.
Miracle of Innocence helps other wrongfully convicted inmates and provides after-care for their post-release transition back into the community.
“I was introduced to the great need for exoneration work through Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative,” Guy said in a statement. “When I first heard Pastor Darryl Burton share his own story of being an innocent man who languished in prison for 24 years, I felt even more convicted of the need to address this injustice. Working with Darryl Burton and Lamonte McIntyre and all the people at Miracle of Innocence is a chance to turn my hope for justice into work for justice.”
Guy is an ordained pastor in the Christian Church’s Disciples of Christ denomination.
She founded and led Living Water Christian Church in Parkville for 17 years and recently served four years on the Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education.
Guy has long been a champion of social justice, including 10 years as a volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages in Overland Park and serving on the LGBTQ Leadership Team for the Disciples of Christ Greater Kansas City Region.
Burton was wrongfully imprisoned 24 years in Missouri for a murder he didn’t commit, and McIntyre spent 23 years in a Kansas prison for a double murder he didn’t commit.
Among those the Miracle of Innocence has helped is Kevin Strickland, who served more than 40 years for a wrongful triple-murder conviction before his release last year.
