#275 Maggie Freleng with Kenneth Nixon

a normal life, whatever that might be for them. But I really do think that change comes from those who have experienced what happened and know what goes on. And I think that's so incredible and beautiful and inspiring. If you're innocent and you're fighting, don't start five. We understand you, We hear you. We're going to wreck this system from LoVa for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling today.

Ken Nixon. On May nineteen, two, five, nineteen year old Ken Nixon was having a relaxing evening at home in Detroit with his girlfriend, LaToya and their baby son. The night slipped away as normally as it could for the new parents until the early hours of the morning, when suddenly the police busted in. About three blocks away. That same night, someone had thrown a molotov cocktail at a

second floor window of a home, killing two children. The other people in the building were able to escape, and one of them said the person he saw through the homemade bomb was Ken. But Ken and LaToya both say they were home at her house. Both her aunt and her neighbor say Ken never left the house that night, but regardless, Ken wound up being tried for arson and for the murders of both children. I was thinking that they're going to figure this out. I was thinking logic

was going to make its way to the surface. I was thinking that the system was going to work the way that it was supposed to. Never did I imagine that the end result would be a guilty verdict. My name is Kenneth Nixon. I spent sixteen years in cars rated for a crime that I did not commit. Ken Nixon was born in Lincoln Park, Michigan, into Tracy Nixon and Kenneth Palmer. Ken didn't know his biological dad growing up and was raised by his mom and stepdad. He's

the oldest of four kids. Family was really close. I have cousins that were more like siblings than they were actual cousins. And I had a pretty fun childhood UM middle class upbringing, magnus schools. I always enjoyed school sports, playing up growing up was you know something that I enjoyed. The one neighborhood wasn't bad, not much violence, not in a horrible area. We went to school as a group. We met on the corner. Everybody met at the same time.

It was somebody's parents responsibility to make sure that everybody made it to the corner. There were checkpoints that when we passed, somebody's parents reported to the other parents. It was a community where every when watched out for each other. And Ken appreciated that he had a fun childhood. But growing up Ken was also academically driven and had higher ambitions. I always wanted to be the first in my family

to graduate college. UM. I learned very early on that not many of my family members on either side had actually graduated, and I wanted to be the first to do so. Ken wanted to be an entrepreneur, and his mom, Tracy says Ken absolutely could have achieved that dream. Kim was smarter than the average kid in the neighborhood. Um. The older kids looked up to him. They respected him because his mental was beyond there's um. He he flourished in everything. You know. I at two I started calling

him the golden child. Ken was smart and also incredibly responsible. And I was that mother that will put a candle in every room of the house, and time to go to bed, he will blow him out. So I would wake up, blow out my candles? Why my candles not burning? And he would say, well, my that's hot. If it breaks and catch on fire, damn what. By ninth grade, Ken was also doing typical teenage things like dating, and he fell in love with his friend from elementary school,

LaToya Colford. LaToya and Ken were dating for a few years when she got pregnant, so after the eleventh grade, Kennt dropped out of school to help LaToya. Just nine days after Ken turned eighteen, the high school sweethearts had their son. They named him Keion. Kennett was under pressure to take care of his family, so he helped start

a business, a towing company. On May nineteenth, two thousand five, just three months after his business was up and running, Ken was having a relaxing night home with LaToya and they're now one year old. Son. My son was on my chest. We were in the bedroom and you know, I hear the door smash in, and you know it's quick. Seconds before you can react. The bedroom door comes swinging open, and the very first thing you see as a flashlight in the shotgun, and instinctively I reached to shield him.

And as I reached to shield him, the first officer yells, baby, baby, baby. Another officer grabs Keion off of Ken, and the next thing Ken knows, he's being thrown onto the ground, handcuffed, and Kean is screaming. The most memorable moment of that night is my son screaming like that that will that come help me, scream that only a kid can give you. And to be powerless in that moment as all of these cops are here. I mean there's there's moments where

I still hear him screaming in my head. That's something you never forget, that powerless moment where your kid is screaming for your assistance and there's nothing you can do about it. Absolutely not. So when you get picked up, they're saying what to you? They actually didn't say anything. Instead, they raided the house and arrested both Ken and LaToya. The two of them were immediately separated. I get to the precinct and these two detectives come in and they

say you're being accused of a murder. And I'm like, yeah right, you can't be serious. And you know, I'm thinking, you know, murdering somebody got shot, you know, drive by or something. The moment the guy says fire like, yeah right, you can't be serious. Nuts, And I was arrested and worked into the county jail. What Ken didn't know was at the same time he was home with LaToya and Kean,

a crime took place about three blocks away. Someone threw a molotov cocktail into the second floor window of a home. Two children were killed, ten year old Rayland Vaughan and his baby sister to Maya. The other people in the building were able to escape, and the police were accusing both Ken and LaToya of these murders. Did you even know how to make a Molotov cocktail? I did not even know what the mona molotov cocktail was. Still can't

even say it. Yeah, My trial attorney literally spent forty five minutes trying to explain to me what a Molotov cocktail was. Turns out the police had an alleged witness, thirteen year old Brandon Vaughan, the brother of the two children who were old. Brandon told police he saw Ken throw the Molotov cocktail through the window and that he thought Ken might have done it out of anger at his mother's boyfriend, Enrico Simmons. Brandon said that Ken had it out for Ronrico because of a fling he had

with LaToya while she and Ken were dating. According to Brandon, he was on his porch that night and saw Ken get out of a green Plymouth neon, throw the bomb into the house, get back into the passenger seat, and speed off, and he said that the car belonged to LaToya. Ken and LaToya were both charged with two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, and one count of arson. So I want to ask you, you know, when you find out that Ken is arrested for a horrible murder

of two children, what was that like for you? The all saying your world turns black? I experience iss it. I couldn't see, I couldn't boss, I couldn't talk, and then I started making phone calls asking questions, what's going on? You know, what's the truth in this? And did two I think there was any possibility Ken could have done something like us, Absolutely not. He looks that kid that wouldn't let me burn a candle for twenty four hours,

so I knew Molotov cocktail. No way. This episode is underwritten by a i G, a leading global insurance company. A i G is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making a positive difference in the lives of its employees and in the communities where we work and live.

In light of the compelling need for pro no legal assistance, and in recognition of a i g's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, the a i G Pro Bono Program provides free legal services and other support underrepresented communities and individuals. On September fifteen, two thousand five, Ken and LaToya went to trial. They were tried together, but they each had separate juries. The prosecutor was Assistant prosecuting Attorney

Patrick Muscat. Mustcat called an expert from the state crime lab who had tested Ken's clothes the night he was arrested after the police had taken them as evidence. The expert testified that Ken's clothes had an accelerant on them. A man named Stanley January Jr. Testified that Ken confessed to him while they were in the Wayne County jail together, and that Ken told him he didn't think the children were home. Muscat also called the alleged witness to the crime,

thirteen year old Brandon Vaughan. He was one of the survivors of the fire that night and the older brother of the victims. Brandon was also the one who pointed police to Ken and LaToya in the first place. At trial, Brandon said he saw Ken get into the passenger side of Latoya's car, but he altered his testimony a bit from what he originally told police. He said that he actually wasn't on the porch when he saw Ken get

out of the car. He was in his bed. The only evidence of the state actually had against Ken was this altered witness testimony and the alleged accelerant covered clothes.

Ken and Latoya's defense was weak, though their attorneys called just four witnesses to the stand, two of whom were alibi witnesses, and they did not present any evidence to refute the state crime lab They did not point out that Ken had worked at the towing company earlier that night, and that since trucks typically carry gasoline, it's likely that I could have had some sort of accelerant on him

from that. LaToya ended up being acquitted of all charges, But as for Ken, his jury found him guilty and he was convicted of one count of arson, four counts of attempted murder, and two counts of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. When Ken got to prison, he got right to work. He's a natural achiever, and says he finished getting his g e d Within six weeks of his conviction, and he appealed his conviction right away. But in two thousand seven he was denied.

He was denied again in two thousand and ten, and then again and again. Did you do any crying in prison? Almost certainly. Losses are heard, you know, the course systems heard. I absolutely cried a few times, all the while his tracy was paying for the attorneys and expenses for Kent's appeals. It's hard to continue to say, hey, I need grant, right, that's somebody's life savings. Where where are you getting this money? That's a lot of money. Granted, mostly I worked, I

had parties. You know, we we did what we had to do it with so full we had t shirts made, we sold shirts, and on a monthly basis, the money was there, but they kept losing. Eventually Tracy had to wonder. It took me a long time to ask him, you know, because I did as a mother. I asked, come on, now, Jelly, something did you And he said absolutely not? And I knew in my heart didn't. And you know, she'd sacrifice so much to continue paying lawyers and private investigators, and

result was repeatedly the same. No matter how much money we spent. I WoT how much time we spent, we were still losing. And when that question came, I felt like her faith was waivery, But it wasn't. Tracy pushed on with her son to fight for his freedom. I know my son was famous. I know my good my soul me knowing him right, it was innocent. So I guess listeners might be wondering, how do you have the same case and one person gets off and one person

gets convicted. Well that's the ten million dollar question, isn't it. This is David Williams. He's a staff attorney at the Western Michigan University Coolly Innocence Project. David and the w MU Cooley Innocence Project came across Ken's case back in and they saw several factors that pointed to it's his innocence. The two biggest factors was the use of jail house snitch and also the testimony of the star witness, Brendan Vaughan, who we knew to be unreliable because he told a

different story about four different times. They started from the beginning, they gathered all the available evidence, and while reviewing it, they stumbled on something new. David says, the uncovered memos that had not previously been disclosed to Ken's defense. So, um, we actually had memos that we found during the course of our investigation from the police and the prosecutors, and they're saying, you know, this witness, this kid, Brandon, he's

very inconsistent. We've got to get something, and all of a sudden, this jail house nitche materializes just overnight. David believes that this suggests the prosecution was worried they wouldn't get a conviction on Brandon's test money alone, and so the prosecution called Stanley January Junior to testify. A memo dated August third, two thousand five, requested that the detectives speak with Ken's cellmates to see if Ken said anything

to them. By the end of the month, Detective Moyse's Jimenez said he spoke with January, who allegedly said Nixon confessed to him. Shortly after that, January signed his plea agreement. Eventually, Ken's team spoke with January, who admitted he had actually seen the case on TV before he spoke with Ken. Another prisoner had also previously reported that January admitted to him that he made up a lie hoping to make a deal with the prosecutor to get his own case dropped.

David and the w MU Cooley Innocence Project worked on Ken's case for two years before they submitted it to the Conviction Integrity Unit or CiU. While pending, the CiU completed a review of another case which they deemed was indeed a wrongful conviction. Alexander Unsari, who had been in prison since twelve had his conviction vacated and guess what the common denominator with Ken. Detective Moise's Jimenez was also

a detective in unsorious case. So Detective Himenez is currently being accused of holding up a couple of investigations and has something to deal with cartel Um. There has been prior misconduct from Jimenez before Um, and I think at this point it's pretty easy to say that Detroit doesn't consider him a reliable witness anymore. And it wasn't just Jimenez. Many of the players involved in Ken's conviction have a

history of misconduct. Prosecuting Attorney Muscat, for example, prosecuted Davante Sandford, who was a child when he was convicted. Sandford has since been exonerated. Must Get also prosecuted Felonious Searcy for murder in two thousand four, which resulted in a life without parole sentence. Seriously is currently awaiting a new trial due to Muscat's alleged role in hiding evidence from the jury.

Lieutenant James Tolbert was also involved in the Davante Sanford case and had been placed on the Wayne County Prosecutor's list of untrustworthy police officers. A specialist to try and curb wrongful convictions in Detroit and surrounding cities in Wayne County. Finally, after months of review, the CiU ruled in Ken's case, and of February, his conviction was vacated. After sixteen years, Ken Nixon walked out of prison and was reunited with

his family, friends and supporters. It's like people just rushing to the car and you know, familiar faces, some unfamiliar faces. But my son was, you know, he's a little ways back. So he caught the glimpse of me comming and he just like football, hold on, and he just hailed all and we just rocked back and forth for a minute. And that's when reality said. Yeah. Soon after Ken got out, I caught up with him in his home. He was with his then girlfriend Wendy, and he was having a

little trouble getting the hang of his cell phone. Welcome to the world of technology issues. Yeah, I know. So how's it going so okay? What have you eaten so far? Everything? Everything? He said, he wanted a real burger, okay, that's fair. When Ken got out, the first thing he did was catch up on his eighteen year old son, Kian's life. They had maintained a relationship throughout his time in prison, but now he could be a hands on dad. I was home in time to see his senior year of ball. UM.

He is a standout football star. He just accepted a full right scholarship to Morgan State University to play football. He is a straight a m B kid and nothing. I've never seen nothing less than a three point eight with him. I'll get to see him off for college. I'll get to annoy the hell out of him while he's at college. UM. I amazing, amazing time when my

generation game. Now that he's out, Ken is actually a full time dad to two boys because while in prison, Ken found out he has another son, Omar, who was born a couple of years before Keion. They also built a relationship while Ken was in prison and I stayed in touch. Omar is now nineteen years old. In addition to fortifying his relationships, Ken is now also focused on

advocacy work. When I came home, I didn't like the fact that the people around us that have never been through what we've been through, we're dictating how we moved. It's the lawyers that are telling you which financial advisors to go to. It's the lawyers that are helping you get health care. It's the lawyers that are suggesting which therapists you talked to that are telling you what's okay and what's not okay. That bothers me because you've never

been where I've been. You've never seen what I've seen, so it makes you feel like you're qualified to tell me what's acceptable and what's not. That was a struggle for me to accept. So I laid the foundation, I poured some concrete, and now we stand. Ken is a founding member of the Organization of AX Honorees, a nonprofit whose membership, including its board, consists entire really of as

we work to bring awareness to wrongful convictions. There are I think the latest number that I've seen is three thousand axonaries in this country, and those are just the ones we know about. We work to do the best we can with re entry and making sure that people have what they need. We work to be each other peer counselors. We work to make sure that if there's an innocent person in prison, if they don't have any supporters,

we are their supporters. You know. We fly in, we go to court hearings, we go to parole hearings, we go to meetings with prosecutors, We go to meetings with people that don't technically understand what the wrongful conviction is. We deal with bank accounts, we deal with driver's license I das, housing, healthcare, financial advisors. We deal with us. Our decisions are our own, and the goal of the purpose our existence is based around us taking care of us.

I asked Ken what he would tell other innocent people going through the same thing that he did. If you're innocent and you're fighting, don't stop fighting. No, m no, that we're doing everything. We can't change the system. We understand you, We hear you. We're gonna rack this system. In January of this year, Kenna filed a claim against the state of Michigan for compensation for his wrongful conviction.

If you'd like to help support the work of the Organization of Asnorees, go to fundly dot com slash ororganization dash of dash exonorees next time on Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling, Karen bows I fell form Ryan and my song and he said the house was on fire. Nicolas rob and that's the biggest thing. No, but it could locate YEA thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling Please support your local innocence organizations and go to the links in our bio to see how you

can help. I'd like to thank our executive producers Jason Flam and Kevin Wurdis, as well as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, researcher Lila Robinson, story editor Sonya Paul, with additional production by Jeff Cleburne and Connor Hall. The music in this production is by three time OSCAR nominated composed user Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at Wrongful Conviction, as well as at Lava

for Good. On all three platforms, you can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number one