The family of Ledell Lee was left heartbroken after DNA from another individual was discovered on the murder weapon—four years after Lee was executed for the crime.In 1995, Lee was convicted of the 1993 murder of Debra Reese, who was found dead after being strangled and beaten with a small wooden bat.The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 1997, but questions have long remained about whether Lee was truly responsible for the crime.Several of Reese’s neighbors told investigators they saw Lee near the murder scene, but his family disputed this in a lawsuit filed in 2020.
“No physical evidence directly tied Mr. Lee to the murder of Ms. Reese,” they said.
Lee was executed in 2017 (Arkansas Department of Corrections)
Lee was executed on April 20, 2017, and maintained his innocence in his final words to the BBC.
“My dying words will always be, as they have been: I am an innocent man,” he said.
Four years later, in 2021, an attorney for Lee’s family claimed that DNA from another individual was found on the murder weapon, raising further questions about Lee’s conviction and execution.Lee Short, who had been Lee’s attorney, told CNN: “I think if those results had been available before he was executed, he’d still be alive.”The DNA testing, commissioned by attorneys representing Lee’s family, the Innocence Project, and the American Civil Liberties Union, identified DNA belonging to an unknown man on the murder weapon.According to CNN, the DNA found on the weapon matched DNA found on a bloody white T-shirt wrapped around it, attorneys said.Additional DNA testing was conducted on six hairs found at the crime scene, which were presented as evidence during the trial that led to Lee’s conviction.
The summary of the results stated that testing ruled out Lee as the source for five of the six hairs.
DNA testing was done after the execution (Family Handout)
Lee’s sister, Patricia Young, released the following statement via the Innocence Project following the findings: “We are glad there is new evidence in the national DNA database and remain hopeful that further information will be uncovered in the future.”She added: “We ask for privacy for our family during this difficult time.”The DNA testing was conducted after Lee’s conviction, though his attorneys had attempted to request it during the appeal process.That attempt was ultimately denied.”The reasoning given by the judge was that it wouldn’t matter—that there were three people who saw him at or near that neighborhood on that day and time, and honestly, the DNA just wouldn’t matter,” Short said.Meanwhile, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson stated that the evidence was “inconclusive, and the fact is that the jury found him guilty based upon the information that they had.”
