THE WRONG MAN
A six-part story of deception and redemption: The high-profile murder of a 5-year-old boy — and his mother’s quest to free his convicted killer.
Marcus Yates was 5 years old when he was shot dead in a Philadelphia candy store in 1988. His high-profile killing enraged the city and people demanded justice.
Decades later, Marcus’ mother met with the two men convicted of murdering her son. To her shock, she realized the police account of the crime wasn’t what she had been led to believe.
The Inquirer investigated and discovered that one of them, Michael Gaynor, was indeed the wrong man. And after many months of reporting, found the right man.
Now Marcus’ mother is trying to free Gaynor from prison.
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HOW THIS SERIES WAS REPORTED
The Wrong Man was based on thousands of pages of court transcripts, police homicide documents, 21 witness statements, police paperwork, death records, medical examiner records, prison records, decades of news stories, and interviews with more than four dozen people. Among them: Michael Gaynor, Ike Johnson, Rochelle Yates, Bryan Whittington, Malcolm Yates, Toney Yates, Stacy Yates, Delores Edmond, Annette Campbell, Shannon McCode, Charmaine Duncan, Michael Duncan, Ann Marie Mills, Stanfordson “Stan” Xavier, Harriotte Brown, Willis W. Berry Jr., Robert E.H. Miller, Steven Morley and the stepson of Paul Jacobs, Romaine.
Retired detective Martin Devlin did not return phone calls. Retired detective Paul Worrell spoke briefly. Retired prosecutor Joseph Casey declined to comment.
Retired detectives Charles Brown and James Dougherty could not be reached.
Ruby Duncan, Christopher Duncan, Rosetta Talton and detective Franklin McGuoirk were deceased before reporting on this series started.
Staff Contributors
- Reporting: Barbara Laker, Samantha Melamed
- Design: Sterling Chen, Sam Morris
- Editing: James Neff, Daniel Rubin
- Videography: Jenna Miller
- Photo Editing: Jasmine Goldband
- Digital Editing: Felicia Gans Sobey
- Social Editing: Esra Erol, Erin Reynolds
- Copy Editing: Addam Schwartz, Brian Leighton