DNA evidence finally clears brothers after 30 years in prison

Two men who have each served 30 years behind bars have had their convictions overturned after they were exonerated by newly discovered DNA evidence. A North Carolina judge has ordered Henry McCollum, 50, and his half-brother, Leon Brown, 46, be immediately released. The pair were convicted over the 1983 killing of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie in Robeson County. The girl’s body was found in a field, naked except for a bra pushed up against her neck.

It’s impossible to put into words what these men have been through and how much they have lost.

A lawyer who represents Henry McCollum

Lawyers campaigned for the release of the two men following the discovery of DNA from a cigarette butt at the scene that pointed to another man. That man has been serving a life sentence for a rape and slaying that took place less than a month after Sabrina’s death. The 74-year-old man lived near the field where Sabrina’s body was found. Authorities said McCollum and Brown, who were both teenagers at the time of the crime, had confessed to killing Sabrina, but lawyers said the men were coerced into giving confessions after hours of questioning.

Americas Henry McCollum