June 17, 2020

Maryland brothers awarded $3.8 million after being wrongfully jailed for 24 years

By Ovetta Wiggins on June 17, 2020

Eric Simmons and Kenneth “JR” McPherson, two brothers who spent 24 years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit, were awarded nearly $2 million each by the state of Maryland on Wednesday, becoming the ninth and 10th exonerees to receive compensation from the state since October.

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted unanimously to pay Simmons and McPherson eight payments each totaling $1.9 million through July 2025.

The two men were in their early 20s when they were convicted in 1995 of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in prison.

An official at the New York-based Innocence Project, which worked on their release, said police coerced a 13-year-old into identifying Simmons and McPherson in connection with the killing of Anthony Wooden in Baltimore.