
DNA evidence frees 2 Brooklyn men convicted in
1992 triple murder
By Haley Draznin, CNN
Thu February 6, 2014

Anthony Yarbough, left, and Sharrif Wilson
were released Thursday on consent of the Brooklyn district attorney
after DNA evidence suggests they did not commit the crimes they were
convicted for.
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(CNN) -- Two Brooklyn men who have spent the last 21 years in prison
for three murders that DNA evidence suggests they did not commit were
released Thursday on consent of the Brooklyn district attorney.
Anthony Yarbough, 39, and Sharrif Wilson, 37, were arrested in June
1992 in the slaying Yarbough's 40-year-old mother, his 12-year-old
sister and another 12-year-old girl in a Coney Island housing project.
"In this case, my office examined newly discovered scientific evidence
that was not available at the time of the trial," Brooklyn District
Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson said in statement to CNN. "My obligation
under the law is to determine whether this new information, had it been
known and presented at trial, would have been more likely than not to
cause the trial jury to return a different verdict."
In 2013, new DNA evidence from under Yarbough's mother's fingernails
matched sperm from the 1999 unsolved rape and murder of Migdalia Ruiz
of Brooklyn, according to an investigation by the Medical Examiner's
office.
Yarbough and Wilson were already incarcerated when the 1999 rape and
murder occurred, according to Adam Perlmutter, Wilson's attorney.
"Based on this new evidence, I believe a jury would have been more
likely to return a different verdict," Thompson said.
Zachary Margulis-Ohuma, Yarbough's attorney, is glad justice has
finally been served.
"Anybody looking at this evidence with an open mind would see that
there is no chance in the world that Tony murdered his mother and these
two little girls," Margulis-Ohuma said.
According to Margulis-Ohuma, this case was "easy" with such "obvious
evidence of innocence." Margulis-Ohuma hopes Thompson will devote the
resources in the future to investigate the "harder" cases.
Yarbough was just 18, and Wilson only 15, when they were accused of
murder.
Yarbough came home after a night out and discovered the victims choked
to death with electrical cords and stabbed multiple times. The two
young girls had been partially undressed, according to Perlmutter.
Yarbough's mother, Annie, his sister Chavonn Barnes, and Chavonn's
friend Latsaha Knox were killed.
Brooklyn detectives placed Yarbough and Wilson into separate interview
rooms and coerced false confessions from the two teens, who were later
convicted in separate trials.
Yarbough was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison.
Wilson was offered a deal by the district attorney's office for a
nine-years-to-life sentence, but his case was disputed after he wrote
Yarbough's family in 2005 saying that he had lied at the trial.
Yarbough's attorney and the district attorney's office began revisiting
the case in 2010.
Thompson came into office in January with promises to restore justice
to the wrongfully convicted. This case is part of a review of Brooklyn
killings from the 1980s and early 1990s.
"I'm feeling really blessed right," Yarbough said. "I was extremely
anxious and nervous. I didn't know what was going to happen. There were
so many setbacks."
When asked about his relationship with Wilson, Yarbough said he has no
animosity.
"I'm happy that he's out. I wish him and his family nothing but the
best," Yarbough said.
Yarbough says he does not know what his next step will be. At this
time, after years behind bars, Yarbough is happy to move on.
"It was hard to keep my hopes up, but God is good now, I'm out now, I'm
free, thank God," Yarbough said.
CNN's Rande Iaboni contributed to this report.
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