Curtis Flowers, Mississippi man wrongfully convicted after being tried for the same killings 6 times, dies at 56 - CBS News
Curtis Flowers, a Black man from Mississippi who was wrongfully convicted six times for the same crime, has died at age 56. His case became a landmark example of prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias in the American legal system.
Why it matters
The case serves as a significant touchstone in the national conversation regarding systemic racism and the integrity of the U.S. judicial process.
Curtis Flowers, a Black man from Mississippi who was wrongfully convicted multiple times when he was tried six times for the same crime by the same prosecutor, has died. He was 56.Flowers' family confirmed that he died Wednesday at his home in Winona, Mississippi, attorney Rob McDuff told CBS News on Thursday.No cause of death was given, said McDuff, who was part of Flowers' legal team. CBS News has reached out to the coroner.Flowers' struggle with the justice system began in Winona, Mississippi, on a July morning in 1996, when the owner of Tardy Furniture, a bookkeeper, a delivery man and a 16-year-old were shot in the head execution-style.Flowers briefly worked at the furniture store that summer, but he was let go after he stopped showing up after only three days. Police questioned him after the murders, but didn't arrest him at the time.
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