74-Year-Old Woman Exonerated After Spending 27 Years In Prison For A Crime She Didn't Commit

Last week, Joyce Watkins, 74, was exonerated after spending 27 years in prison for being wrongfully convicted of murdering her great-niece.

According to CNN, Watkins and her boyfriend at the time, Charlie Dunn, went to pick up Brandi, Watkins’ four-year-old great-niece in Kentucky on June 26, 1987. The next morning, the couple found Brandi unresponsive and rushed her to Nashville Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead the next day. Medical examiner, Dr. Gretel Harlan, determined the vaginal and head trauma injuries suffered by Brandi were sustained within the nine hours she was with Watkins and Dunn.

In 1988, Watkins and Dunn were convicted of murdering Brandi. They spent 27 years in prison until being released on parole in 2015. Dunn died before being released.

Watkins maintained her innocence and worked with the Tennessee Innocence Project, along with the Davidson County DA’s Office. On November 10, 2021, a report was filed asking Watkins’ and Dunn’s convictions be vacated. According to KMOV, a report included in the filing stated how Dr. Harlan’s methodology cannot be a legitimate method used to date pediatric head trauma.

Last week, 35 years later, Watkins has been exonerated and Dunn was declared posthumously exonerated.

Photo from: The Tennessean