The case
convicted FOR A CRIME THAT
NEVER HAPPENED
On the 16th June 2000, Tasha Mercedez Shelby was wrongfully convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole.
The jury held that Tasha had killed her two-and-a-half-year-old stepson Little Bryan by shaking him to death. The primary evidence the prosecution relied on was the since disproven diagnostic tool Shaken Baby Syndrome (‘SBS’).
Tasha narrowly avoided
the death penalty.
In the early hours of 30th May 1997, Tasha heard a thump coming from Little Bryan’s bedroom. She found him on the floor by his bed seizing and unconscious. She immediately phoned Biloxi Regional Hospital. Tasha then called the child’s father (Big Bryan) asking him to drive them to the hospital. Little Bryan was then later transferred to the University of South Alabama Hospital where he sadly passed away a day later.
Since Tasha’s trial, the medical understanding of SBS has drastically changed. The theory is no longer supported by recent scientific studies and many medical experts across the world have changed their minds.
One of these experts is medical examiner Dr Riddick. Dr Riddick originally testified in Tasha’s case that little Bryan’s death was due to shaking/non-accidental head trauma.
In 2018, Dr Riddick admitted he had made a mistake and changed Little Bryan’s death certificate from homicide to accidental death.
Dr Riddick now believes Bryan’s death was a result of a cascade of events involving a seizure, a shortfall, and an inability to breathe.
This new medical evidence was put before Judge Roger T. Clark in the 2018 Post-Conviction Relief hearing. Despite this, the judge denied Tasha relief and stated that the medical expert testimonies did not legally qualify as new evidence.
This means that Tasha has been in prison since the age of 22 and remains indefinitely behind bars.
Free Tasha Shelby 