NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Tennessee woman wrongfully convicted in a 1988 rape and murder case has been exonerated.
Joyce Watkins and her then-boyfriend Charlie Dunn were sentenced to life in prison.
The couple picked up Watkins’ grandniece back in 1988 and noticed the child was unresponsive. Once at the hospital, blood on the child was observed. Investigators determined the child had been both physically and sexually abused.
Watkins and Dunn have always maintained their innocence, and Watkins has been on parole since 2015. District Attorney Ken Whitehouse says the records of both Watkins and Dunn have been cleared, their convictions vacated and both have been removed from the sex offender registry. DA Whitehouse adds the case was convicted based on faulty evidence by Medical Examiners at the time.
“I thank all the people for their prayers and helping me get out of this mess which has cost me half of my life for nothing,” Watkins told the press Wednesday. “But I’ll get over it.”
Dunn died behind bars in 2015. The executor of his estate petitioned the state of Tennessee to reopen the case.