Prosecutors concealed evidence in 1988 murder case that led to Michael Gaynor’s imprisonment, according to his lawyers.

Michael Gaynor, who has spent 37 years in prison for the murder of five-year-old Marcus Yates in a Southwest Philadelphia candy store, may soon gain his freedom. On October 15, legal representatives from McEldrew Purtell submitted a petition under Pennsylvania’s Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), asserting that critical evidence indicating another suspect was deliberately suppressed by police and prosecutors. They also allege that witnesses were coerced, and false testimonies were used to secure Gaynor’s conviction in 1988.

The legal team maintains that Gaynor is innocent and has called for expedited proceedings toward his exoneration. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit has been conducting an investigation into the case since late last year and is expected to respond to the recent petition.

Significantly, the petition draws on findings from an investigative series by a local media outlet, which uncovered substantial evidence suggesting that Gaynor was neither the gunman nor present during the fatal shootout. Instead, the investigation relied on an extensive review of court documents, police files, and numerous witness statements, revealing inconsistencies in the prosecution’s narrative.

In a noteworthy development, the family of Marcus Yates, including his mother Rochelle Yates-Whittington, has expressed support for Gaynor’s release. This is particularly striking given the emotional burden that the tragic loss of her son has inflicted on Yates-Whittington over the decades. After directly communicating with both Gaynor and another convicted individual linked to the case, she publicly declared her belief in Gaynor’s innocence, desperately wishing for swift resolution of his case.

The events surrounding the tragic shooting on July 18, 1988, remain vivid in the community’s collective memory. On that day, Marcus was among a group of children in a small convenience store when gunfire erupted, resulting in his death from a gunshot wound to the head. Despite the lack of forensic evidence tying Gaynor to the scene, he was identified as a suspect largely due to circumstantial connections and misleading witness testimonies.

Gaynor’s legal team argues that police misconduct, including the suppression of evidence and coercion of witnesses, led to a wrongful conviction based on unreliable testimonies, a fact that calls into question the integrity of the judicial process at the time. Since taking office in January 2018, the current District Attorney, Larry Krasner, has seen the exoneration of 48 individuals, many of whom were wrongfully convicted due in part to similar patterns of misconduct prevalent in cases from the 1980s and 1990s.

As the legal proceedings move forward, the implications of this case resonate far beyond Gaynor’s quest for freedom, reflecting broader issues within the criminal justice system regarding wrongful convictions and the necessity for accountability and reform.