Marilyn Mulero was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death due to misconduct by disgraced Chicago Detective Reynaldo Guevara, responsible for dozens of wrongful convictions. In May 1992, two Latin Kings gang members were killed in Humboldt Park, Chicago, leading to the arrest of Mulero and Jackie Montanez. Under intense, unrepresented interrogation, Mulero was coerced into a false confession. Her attorney, Jeremiah Lynch, entered a blind guilty plea, resulting in her being the first woman in Illinois sentenced to death. Justin Brooks of the California Innocence Project uncovered significant flaws in the case, including unreliable witnesses and false statements. Despite numerous appeals, Mulero’s death sentence was only vacated in 1997, commuting to life imprisonment. In 2017, Montanez admitted sole responsibility for the murders. Persistent efforts by several innocence projects led to Mulero’s clemency by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on April 6, 2020, and her subsequent exoneration on August 9, 2022, marking her the 190th person exonerated from death row in the U.S.
