Jerome Mason

On September 13, 1993, Leo Marshall was shot and killed in his home in North Memphis after a drug-deal-gone-wrong. The man, his girlfriend, and his nephew were watching Monday Night Football when three men arrived at the house looking for drugs. Soon after entering their home, the men opened fire on the residents – killing Marshall and injuring his girlfriend.

An eyewitness, who was in the neighborhood looking for drugs, watched this scene unfold from the porch of an abandoned house two doors down. The eyewitness then hid until the men left, at which point he went to the house, checked on the victims, and spoke with police when they arrived. The gunmen approached a van on the street and began to threaten the occupants, in addition to shooting at a second vehicle with people inside.

The investigation into this crime faced significant challenges. With no clear motive or substantial leads, and witness descriptions affected by poor visibility and weather conditions, the police struggled to identify the perpetrators. The Memphis Police Department, suspecting a possible gang connection, compiled a photographic lineup of known or suspected gang members from the area, including Jerome Mason. Despite having no solid reason to suspect Mason and witness descriptions that did not match him consistently, the police presented the lineup to the witnesses. Both the eyewitness and a bystander identified Mason from this lineup. Based on these identifications, Mason was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and first-degree murder.

Days before Mason’s trial, investigators obtained additional witness identifications from the victim’s nephew and a passenger in one of the vehicles involved. With no physical evidence linking Mason to the crime, the case relied solely on the testimony of these four witnesses. Jerome Mason was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment plus fifteen years.

The Tennessee Innocence Project began investigating Jerome Mason’s case in 2022 and looks forward to presenting evidence of Jerome’s actual innocence in a court of law.