KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Efforts to free Kevin Strickland, who's been in prison for 43 years for a murder he didn't commit, are continuing on Friday.
In May, Jackson County Prosecutor Attorney Jean Peters Baker called for his conviction to be overturned after new evidence in the case surfaced.
In 1978, Strickland was convicted for a shooting that left three people dead and another injured.
However last month, Peters Baker, the Midwest Innocence Project and Strickland's attorney said that a co-defendant of Strickland, described the events of the shooting. The co-defendant named three people who were involved and none of them were Strickland.
This week, Strickland was denied attempts at his freedom twice; once when the Missouri Supreme Court denied his exoneration request and another when he wasn't included on Parson's list of pardons.
On Friday, Missouri Republican Rep. Mike Andrew McDaniel, tweeted asking other lawmakers to join him in sending a letter to Parson asking for the immediate release of Strickland.
"This the first time hearing this tonight on the news about his case," McDaniel said in a tweet. "I’ll ask here on social media for my colleagues to join me in writing a letter to Gov. Parson for his immediate release. Y’all know how the letters work. I’ll start the email thread and lmk (let me know)."
In an email to 41 Action News, McDaniel confirmed that other lawmakers in Jefferson City have also agreed to sign the letter.
"I was literally like all these circumstances and the local area prosecutors want him released," McDaniel wrote in the email. "I’m sure that the local prosecutors know what’s going on with the case."
McDaniel questioned why Strickland is still being held based on an eyewitness' account who has since changed her story.
McDaniel also acknowledged that this process could take time saying, "I also know there’s a process and they take time. So will be writing to the Parole Board as to the governor and using the process."
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