Imprisoned at 17 for murder, KCK man gets hearing 23 years later to set him free
Lamonte McIntyre was only 17 years old when police in Kansas City, Kan., slapped handcuffs on his wrists and put him away for two life terms for a gruesome double murder. Behind bars for 23 years, he has insisted he is innocent.
Evidence against him included:
No gun.
No motive.
No fingerprints.
No blood on his sock, shoes, pants, shirt or any clothing.
No evidence that he ever met or remotely knew the two victims.
Not even the relatives of those victims — Donald Ewing, 34, and his younger cousin, Doniel Quinn, 21, who were blasted to death as they sat in a powder blue Cadillac on the afternoon of April 15, 1994 — believe McIntyre is guilty. For decades they have insisted he was railroaded into prison and needs to be released.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, McIntyre may move one step closer to winning his freedom.
Kansas City attorney Cheryl Pilate, who has spent seven years investigating McIntyre’s case, is scheduled to appear in Wyandotte County District Circuit to present evidence in support of the exoneration or release of McIntyre.
A year ago in October, The Kansas City Star’s special project “No Justice” chronicled the details of the crime, and the evidence that Pilate insists speaks to McIntyre’s innocence.
Pilate’s case in support of McIntyre is expected to include recantations by witnesses who have long-claimed they lied under pressure when they falsely identified McIntyre as the killer.
The case is expected to call into question the ethics and honesty of two prime figures in the case. They are the then lead detective, Roger Golubski, who retired as a captain from the Kansas City, Kan., police department in 2015, and Tara Morehead, a then county prosecutor who is now a U.S. Attorney in Kansas.
To guard against local bias, Edward E. Bouker, the retired chief district judge from Ellis County District Court in Hays, Kan., will preside at the hearing, set to begin at 9 a.m. The hearing is scheduled to last as long as a week.
Eric Adler: 816-234-4431, @eadler
This story was originally published October 11, 2017 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Imprisoned at 17 for murder, KCK man gets hearing 23 years later to set him free."