Fifteen years after Juwan Deering was sentenced to life in prison for a fire that killed five children — a crime he maintains he didn’t commit — Deering is free.

Deering, now 50, gave his plans for the rest of the day as he walked out of the courtroom.

“Something good to eat, family and hopefully a relaxing day,” Deering said. “It’s been a long morning.”

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced her office will not retry Deering during a hearing Thursday. The murder and arson charges he faced were dismissed.


In 2006, a jury convicted Deering of arson and five counts of felony murder for the fire in Royal Oak Township and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Deering maintains his innocence.

Evidence, including part of a videotaped interview with one of the children who survived the fire, was not turned over in the case, prosecutors said. In the video, the boy said there were two people named Juwan and he didn’t believe the man shown to him in a picture, who lived in his neighborhood, was responsible. That portion of the video was not turned over to the defense.

There was also newly discovered evidence in the case that included information about the three jailhouse informants who testified against Deering. Testimony from the three jailhouse informants was critical to the prosecution’s case.

Earlier this month, a judge ruled Deering was deprived a fair trial.

McDonald is expected to hold a news conference later this morning on the case. She has previously said there was prosecutorial misconduct in the case and critical evidence was buried in prosecutor and investigator files.




https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...son/ar-AAP0fB5