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July 29, 2009 Cleared murder defendant looks toward futurePosted: 03:32 PM ET
NEW YORK – When the jury declared Tyler Edmonds not guilty in the murder of his brother-in-law last year, the emotion on both sides of the courtroom was palpable. Behind Edmonds sat his mother and rows of friends his own age; tears flowed and the stunned teenager received a barrage of hugs before he walked out of the courtroom a free man. 
Tyler Edmonds  Still sitting on the opposite side of the gallery were the mother, brother, and sister-in-law of his alleged victim Joey Fulgham – a 29-year-old father of three, whose life ended when a single bullet pierced his skull as he lay sleeping in his bed. I was struck by the severe look on the faces of all three as they stared straight ahead. I asked Joey’s brother Shannon Fulgham about it when we met for an interview a few weeks later; pain and disbelief, he said. Edmonds, now 20, is working as a yard and pool keeper, and begins night classes at the local community next month with an EMT/Paramedic major. He has filed a suit against Oktibbeha County and the state for monetary compensation, to help with the $60,000 debt he says he and his mother have amassed since his legal troubles began. The complaint paints a stark picture of the teen’s time behind bars: “Tyler witnessed multiple instances of inmates attempting suicide by slitting their wrists and continuous threats by inmates to jump off the catwalk. Tyler was surrounded by gangs and gang wars at all times while incarcerated, an atmosphere that would be intolerable for any adult, much less a child of his age,” the document reads. Edmonds has also filed a claim under a new Mississippi law that entitles wrongfully imprisoned individuals to up to $50,000 per year of incarceration; for Edmonds, this could add up to $200,000. The case had dragged on since Joey’s death in 2003, when his wife Kristi allegedly recruited her 13-year-old half-brother Tyler Edmonds as an accomplice in her husband’s murder. All seem to agree Kristi is a masterful manipulator, but Tyler’s role – and level of responsibility – was left for the jury to determine. He was already convicted of the murder once, at the age of 14, but that verdict was overturned by the State Supreme Court. And here he was again at the defense table, at 19, hearing the words he’d been waiting for; the seal on his walking papers. “It is amazing how that much worry and pain can be taken away by two words,” he told me later. He’s prayed, he said, that the Fulgham family will realize he did not kill Joey – but has come to realize there is nothing he can do about it. Shannon Fulgham says one of the most difficult things for the family has been watching the rallying of support for Edmonds based largely on his age. Few of the individuals and organizations to step forward know the facts of the case, he says; none have expressed concern for Joey’s essentially orphaned children, who now are in the care of Kristi’s mother. In an update Edmonds sent me last week, he says it’s comforting to be able to look towards the future without worrying about going back to jail. “It's still hard sometimes, but considering all that I've survived thus far, something tells me I will be quite alright.” Kristi, now on death row for the murder, has written him and apologized, he says; he has no intention of responding. -Lena Jakobsson, In Session field producer Filed under: Trial Updates |
 
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