David Ayers
David Ayers spent 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
David was found guilty of murdering a 76-year-old woman in 1999 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The victim lived in the public-housing complex where he had been employed as a security guard. David steadfastly claimed his innocence but it wasn't until 2011 that he was freed, after advanced DNA testing facilitated by OIP excluded him as a potential perpetrator. That testing was featured in the Columbus Dispatch’s investigative series exposing Ohio's “flawed evidence-retention and DNA-testing systems.” In that coverage, David was identified as a prime example of a prisoner who deserved DNA testing.
You can learn more about David’s case at the National Registry of Exonerations.
You can learn more about the incredible journalism that helped David and other men gain freedom through DNA testing by reading the series via the Columbus Dispatch.
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