What happens when the justice system fails you?

Where do you turn when you must hope for something bigger than justice. My name is Tasha Mercedez Shelby, I am a 45-year-old woman serving a sentence of life without parole in the state of MS. I have always maintained my innocence so I turn to you the voice of the American people.

I was arrested in 1997 accused of shaken baby syndrome also known as SBS. In June 2000 I was tried and convicted for capital murder in the death of my 2 and a half-year-old stepson. The death certificate initially reflected the manner of death as homicide by the medical examiner. The same medical examiner testified as the state’s sole expert witness during my trial, relying on the limited science that was available on SBS at the time to support his findings.

Over the past 2 decades the science of SBS has changed drastically, it’s this new information that my attorneys have been focusing on in the fight for my freedom. As the new science concerning SBS has become widely excepted it is profound that the only expert witness for the state at trial, the medical examiner, Dr. Leroy Riddick, has not only had a change of mind in the face of facts but has also changed his professional opinion. He has legally amended the death certificate to reflect this updated information and changed the manner of death from homicide to accidental. Today Dr Riddick has now joined forces with the innocence project and my other team of attorneys to help overturn my wrongful conviction.

It is a tough road when fighting for your innocents, I am not looking for money to help in this fight, myself my family and my friends who stand alongside me need you to know my story. We need your voice. Voices that are bigger than the ones we currently have, so that maybe we can all stand together I can be heard and justice in my case will finally be served.