When he was just a teenager, Myon Burrell lost his identity, his voice and even his name. Sentenced to life after a young black girl was killed by a stray bullet, Burrell’s story has been told -- and told again -- by Sen. Amy Klobuchar while trumpeting her tough-on-crime record as a top Minneapolis
1 / 7Klobuchar Juvenile LiferIn this Feb. 13, 2020, photo, inmate Myon Burrell sits inside his cell at Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater, Minn. Sentenced to life after a young black girl was killed by a stray bullet, Burrell's story has been told - and told again - by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar while trumpeting her tough-on-crime record as a top Minneapolis prosecutor.
Klobuchar, who has brought up the little girl as an example of her commitment to racial justice, has faced regular grilling by the African American community and the national media since the AP in January published its story about Burrell, who also is black. During the Democratic debate in New Hampshire, she repeated a well-worn statement that she has called for a review of Burrell’s case, which weighed heavily on a single eyewitness, who gave conflicting accounts about the shooter.
Now almost 34, Burrell is one of more than 1,600 inmates at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater, living in cells stacked on top of one another, four and five tiers high. From the beginning, every minute of the day has been a challenge. But over time, he’s found ways to cope. Besides his faith, family and the bonds he’s formed with fellow juvenile lifers, he said one of the biggest things that has kept him grounded has been his quest for the truth to come out.
“Even though we might not have had a lot, we always made do and we had each other,” he said, adding many of his friends faced physical and emotional abuse at home. “At the end of the day, I did have love. A family with morals and some type of principles to stand on.” “In some ways, her loss affected me deeper than a lot of people I was close to,” he said, adding it was partly because she appeared to be doing everything right against the odds. “And maybe because it was so personal in how our lives ended up being intertwined.”
”So much was happening,” he said, adding he still has not been able to find closure for his mother’s death. “It was hard for me to really focus.”Even after Burrell was found guilty by a jury, his lawyer told him not to worry, an appeal was being filed and he’d be out within months. Time dragged, his conviction was overturned due to procedural violations. Instead of Burrell being let go, Klobuchar decided to recharge him in what was now a highly politicized case.
He saw the changes happening in his own mirror. He aged prematurely, as is common for juvenile lifers. His once-full head of hair thinned, then started falling out. And he soon realized he had a choice. He could either give up or keep trying to uncover the truth. And he said those principles instilled during his childhood kicked in and eventually helped him navigate prison, even during the most difficult times.
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