Freedom Stories: Our Exonerees
Since 2019, the Tennessee Innocence Project (TIP) has helped to exonerate 7 innocent clients who collectively served a total of 194 years behind bars. These are their stories.
Artis Whitehead
During the morning of May 9, 2002, a robbery occurred at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Over eight months after the crime occurred, a Crime Stoppers tip named Artis Whitehead as the perpetrator. He was arrested and charged although no evidence connected him to the robbery, and his fingerprints and palm prints did not match those found at the scene. On January 31, 2024, 21 years after his exact arrest date, Artis Whitehead was exonerated.
Wayne Burgess
In 1999, Wayne Burgess was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the death of his girlfriend’s one-year-old daughter in Pulaski, Tennessee. He has spent the last 24 years locked up in Hardeman County Correctional Facility, losing decades of his life for a crime he did not commit. After more than a year of tireless work by a team of attorneys led by Jason Gichner, the conviction was overturned and vacated on April 13, 2023.
Claude Garrett
In 1992, Claude Garrett was convicted of the murder of his fiancé, Lori Lance, after a horrific house fire took place in their Old Hickory, Tennessee home. Mr. Garrett sustained injuries from the fire, but Ms. Lance sadly succumbed to smoke inhalation. In 2022, the Tennessee Innocence Project successfully overturned his wrongful conviction and were able to greet Mr. Garrett as he walked out of prison.
Joyce Watkins &
Charles Dunn
Joyce Watkins and Charles Dunn were wrongfully convicted in 1988 of the murder and sexual assault of Ms. Watkins’ great niece. In 2015, Ms. Watkins was released on parole. Unfortunately, Mr. Dunn never experienced freedom, as he passed away the same year while incarcerated. In 2022, the Tennessee Innocence Project is proud to have helped exonerate Ms. Watkins and Mr. Dunn.
Paul Shane Garrett
In 2003, Paul Shane Garrett pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter to avoid a life sentence. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and released in 2011. DNA evidence was critical in proving Mr. Garrett’s innocence. The Tennessee Innocence Project was honored to help clear Mr. Garrett’s name in 2021 when he was officially exonerated.