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Clemons's supporters question integrity of prosecution

The Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis (photo by Creative Commons user ChrisYunker)
The Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis (photo by Creative Commons user ChrisYunker)

A judge is considering evidence in the death penalty case of Reginald Clemons after four days of testimony this week.

During a press conference Friday morning, Clemons’s parents stood alongside representatives from the ACLU, and the NAACP, to condemn what they call a broken justice system that’s responsible for sending their son to death row.

Clemons was convicted for the 1991 rape and murder of 20-year-old Julie Kerry and 19-year-old Robin Kerry.

Bishop Reynolds Thomas is Clemons father. He says the justice system is corrupt.

“It’s not just about Reggie,” said Thomas. “If a system is tainted, it’s tainted everywhere. And injustice anywhere is injustice for everybody. If it starts here unjustly, it’s going to be unjustly somewhere else. And we want the system to correct itself so that we can live our lives in harmony.”

Clemons maintains that police beat him so badly he admitted to raping the women and pushing them from the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

In a statement sent to St. Louis Public Radio, the Kerry family says that – quote - “Clemons and his family are engaged in a series of elaborate distractions, in an effort to save his life.” They call Clemons’s guilt “irrefutable.”