A Year of Freedom for Tyler Edmonds
A local Mississippi newspaper describes the post-prison life of Tyler Edmonds, who was acquitted last year of killing his sister's husband. Edmonds was 13 at the time of the murder, 15 when he was tried and convicted the first time. He was sentenced to life without parole. In 2007, his conviction was tossed out by the Mississippi Supreme Court, in part due to unscientific testimony from controversial medical examiner Steven Hayne.
Edmonds was tried again last year without Hayne's objectionable testimony, and was acquitted.
One year after he heard a jury say, "Not guilty," Edmonds has made a new life for himself.
He's traveled.
He's working and training to become an emergency medical tech.
And he's moved with his dog, Bud, to his own place in Columbus.
Now, his biggest worry isn't life without parole, it's his Dec. 11 final exams at East Mississippi Community College and passing the national EMT certification…
This date last year, jury selection got under way in Oktibbeha County as Edmonds sat accused of helping his half-sister, Kristi, kill her husband.
Five days later, he heard the words that set him free.
It was almost surreal, he recalled, truly being out from under the total control of someone else.
"I really just didn't know what to do," he remembered. "Now, I have my life back.
"Now, I have direction and something to be proud of."
As the weeks and months passed, Edmonds said he began to consider his future and knew more education was important.
Now that he's completing his EMT training, he said he thinks he may undertake two years more to become a paramedic.
