More than a year removed from the not-guilty verdict which restored his life, Tyler Edmonds is still searching for peace.
Edmonds was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2004 at the age of 13 for the shooting death of his half-sister Kristi Fulgham”s husband Joey. Fulgham was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing in 2006. She remains on death row.
Edmonds” conviction was called into question on the grounds the Oktibbeha County Sheriff”s Office violated the West Point teen”s Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by illegally coercing a confession. The Mississippi Court of Appeals upheld Edmonds” conviction, but the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned it, ruling Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens did not give Edmonds a “fair trial.”
Edmonds was retried and found not guilty in 2008.
Now 21, Edmonds is still attempting to return to a normal life. He graduated from Emergency Medical Technician training at East Mississippi Community College before relocating to Arizona where he works at a boat dealership.
He says he had to leave Mississippi behind to move forward.
“I couldn”t go anywhere without getting stopped,” said Edmonds.
He quickly adds the public recognition was largely positive, with many people congratulating him and encouraging him to move on with his life. But the constant attention only served to chain him to his past, he says, asking “How can you expect me to move on if you won”t move on?”
Edmonds also can”t escape the huge bills his family accumulated during his numerous trials and appeals. He filed a lawsuit against Oktibbeha County in October 2009 seeking $200,000 in compensation for emotional distress and up to $110,000 in attorney”s fees.
“I hope to cover the damages caused by my criminal trial. We spent, my mom especially and my family altogether, a ridiculous amount of money on legal fees,” he said.
Part of Edmonds doesn”t want to forget his experiences. He wants to use those memories in order to serve as an advocate for reform in the juvenile justice process. Edmonds was tried and convicted as an adult and sent to prison for four years starting at the age of 14.
“Hopefully I can get some people”s attention and say things need to change. The way juveniles are questioned, the way they”re interrogated without their parents being present, juveniles being tried as an adult, the facilities and the way they”re held pretrial and after the trial if convicted,” he said. “I don”t think people realize how many people get charged and tried as adults. There are people in Mississippi who didn”t realize I was charged and tried as an adult. If I can stop that from happening to one person, it”s worth it.”
He”s been featured nationally on the “Dr. Phil Show,” and the ABC news magazine “20/20″ is considering doing an in-depth piece on Edmonds. He says he”ll participate if ABC proceeds with the story only because he wants to shine a light on law enforcement practices with regard to juveniles, and says his lawsuit is also part of that campaign.
“It”s sad to say, but it seems all people care about is money, and money is the only thing that gets their attention,” he said.
As Edmonds” lawsuit proceeds through federal court, Fulgham, 33, has appealed her death sentence. In May her lawyers cited 38 possible errors in her 2006 trial and complained a Bible left in the deliberation room as the jury decided her fate may have influenced their decision to sentence her to death.
Fulgham was convicted of shooting Joey Fulgham in the back of the head with a .22 caliber rifle as he slept. Edmonds claims Fulgham asked him to lie to authorities and take responsibility for the killing based on the assumption he would receive a lesser sentence. Edmonds told sheriff”s deputies, after his mother, Sharon Clay, had been removed form the interrogation room at Sheriff Dolph Bryan”s orders, he and Fulgham held the gun and fired the fatal shot together. An expert, whose credentials were later called into question, testified that the bullet wound in Joey Fulgham was consistent with a gun being fired simultaneously by two individuals.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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