How did a mom discover the wrong man was in prison for her son’s murder? Listen to her story.
The Inquirer's own investigation found that Michael Gaynor, who has served 36 years in prison for Marcus Yates' murder, was indeed the wrong man.
Marcus Yates was 5 years old when he was gunned down on a July afternoon in 1988 after two men opened fire on each other in a crowded candy store in Southwest Philadelphia.
The murder enraged city residents reeling from a spike in children getting caught in the crossfire. Philadelphia homicide detectives promised justice, and two men were quickly arrested, then convicted and sentenced to life without parole.
Decades later, Marcus’s mother, feeling trapped in her own prison, decided to forgive her son’s killers so that she could move on and find peace. To her surprise, she discovered the police and prosecutor’s account of the murder wasn’t what she had been led to believe.
The Inquirer launched its own investigation and discovered that Michael Gaynor, who has served 36 years in prison, was indeed the wrong man. And now Marcus’s mother wants to help make sure that Gaynor is freed.