Notes

as her body was naked from the waist down. A pair of white panties was found around her right ankle, and her jeans were draped across her chest. Seminal fluid was recovered from the vaginal and rectal swab of the victim.


In August 2009, Harden again sought DNA testing, a request later joined by Taylor and Barr. For more than a year, the Dixmoor Police Department claimed that it was unable to locate the DNA and was threatened with contempt of court for failing to respond to a subpoena. Eventually, Cook County Judge Michele Simmons ordered the Dixmoor police to allow defense counsel to view the evidence storage areas and log books for themselves. Soon after that order, the Department informed the lawyers that they had finally located the evidence. DNA testing uncovered a full male profile that was entered into the CODIS database of criminal offenders, and matched the DNA profile of a violent serial offender, Willie Randolph. At the time of the crime, Randolph was 33, lived in the victim’s neighborhood, and was on parole after serving a 20-year sentence for armed robbery. He was apprehended by authorities on April 12, 2011.

Barr was represented by the Innocence Project, Harden was represented by the University of Chicago Law School Exoneration Project, Taylor was represented by the Center on Wrongful Convictions as well as private attorney Jennifer Blagg, Veal was represented by Stuart Chanen of the Valorem Law Group and Sharpe was represented by Lemuel Stigler and Jerry Peteet.