Searching For A Killer: DNA Evidence Sets Man Free After 17 Years In Jail
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—After 17-years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, DNA evidence has now exonerated Malcolm Bryant.
Meghan McCorkell has more on the 1998 murder.
"They had to pinch me to let me know that I wasn't dreaming, that it was real," said Bryant after getting out of jail on Wednesday night.
Bryant was sentenced to life in prison in 1998 for the killing of 16-year-old Toni Bullock.
For nearly two decades he fought in court maintaining his innocence.
Then in 2011, testing on the victim's nail clippings revealed a partial DNA profile that did not match Bryant.
In 2015, a full DNA profile was found on the victim's shirt.
"The DNA is in fact that of the killer," said City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby. "And the DNA does not match that of Malcolm Bryant."
"He has been genetically eliminated as the possible suspect," said legal analyst Byron Warnken.
He says securing an exoneration like this can take many years.
"Undoing an otherwise presumptively valid conviction is hard work, uphill work," said Warnken.
Now the question remains who killed Toni Bullock?
Bullock was walking with a friend along Harford Road when a man grabbed her, dragged her into a vacant lot and stabbed her multiple times.
That friend-- the sole witness-- spoke with WJZ after the murder.
"We ain't never hurt nobody. We didn't ever think nothing like this could happen to us," she said.
Bullock's mother also begged someone to come forward.
"This way we can prevent someone from going through the tragedy I 'm going through now," said Darlene Stokes back in 1998.
Now, Baltimore Police are vowing to do all they can to find the killer who escaped justice as Malcolm Bryant sat behind bars.
Police say there are no new leads about whose DNA was found on Bullock's nails and shirt.
The University of Baltimore Innocence Project worked to secure Malcolm Bryant's freedom.