Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
CBS 48 Hours revisits Lamar Johnson’s wrongful conviction for the 1994 murder of his friend, Markus Boyd. The episode “Lamar Johnson: Standing in Truth” will air on the network this Saturday, March 16, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. A synopsis says, “A man gets his life back after spending 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. 48 Hours investigates and is there as Johnson is freed in time to walk his daughter down the aisle.”
On Valentine’s Day of 2023, Johnson walked out of a courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, as a free man. Nearly three decades later, a judge found that he had been wrongfully convicted of Boyd’s murder in 1995. According to People Magazine, he sought help from the Midwest Innocence Project in 2022. The organization then worked with Circuit Attorney Kim Garner to investigate the murder.
On October 30, 1994, two masked gunmen fatally shot Markus Boyd on his porch, per CBS. Lamar Johnson, a father of two, was three miles away with his girlfriend Erika Barrow. Johnson had a solid alibi, but an eyewitness, Greg Elking, picked him out of a lineup. Elking later testified at the trial, which ended with Johnson’s conviction alongside another man, now deceased Phillip Campbell.
What was Lamar Johnson accused of?
Lamar Johnson, a wrongfully convicted Missouri man, was accused of fatally shooting his friend Markus Boyd. Sources such as CBS and AP News stated that two masked men fatally Marcus Boyd in October 1994 on his front porch. Police investigating the case and prosecutors alleged that Johnson killed Boyd over a drug money dispute.
At the time of the murder, Johnson, who worked at Jiffy Lube while taking classes at a community college, had a solid alibi. He was reportedly three miles from the crime scene with his girlfriend, Erika Barrow. Per CBS, Barrow claimed he was with her the whole time, except for five minutes, which was not enough time to travel to the scene. Johnson maintained his innocence but admitted to selling small amounts of drugs, reported People Magazine.
Greg Elking, the eyewitness who was with Markus Boyd on the night of the murder, said he saw two men attack the victim. Elking later picked Lamar Johnson out of a lineup and testified at the 1995 trial, which resulted in Johnson’s wrongful conviction.
CBS News reported that Elking later recanted his story. He claimed to have only seen the eyes of one of the masked attackers.
How was Lamar Johnson’s conviction overturned?
When police questioned Greg Elking, they showed him the lineup, which included Lamar Johnson, three times. At first, he did not identify Johnson, but eventually picked him out as one of the suspects and claimed he could identify Johnson only by his eyes.
Later, Elking alleged detectives pressured him into making an identification. He claimed investigators allegedly told him that his own life was in danger because Johnson was a violent man possibly involved in at least six other murders.
In December 2022, Lamar Johnson was granted an innocence hearing for the first time in nearly three decades. Greg Elking testified that he lied under oath in the 1995 murder trial and that he could not identify Johnson.
Moreover, a man from Boyd’s neighborhood, James “B.A.” Howard testified that he and his friend Phillip Campbell committed the crime. Reportedly, Campbell had been convicted alongside Johnson in 1995 and has since died. In February, a Missouri Circuit Court Judge, David Mason, eventually exonerated Johnson.
Lamar Johnson walked his youngest daughter, Kiera Barrow, down the aisle in April after his release. Keira was only five months old at the time of Jonhson’s wrongful conviction.
CBS 48 Hours‘ episode on Lamar Johnson’s fight for justice airs on March 16, 2024.
