Jefferson City Correctional Center Archives

WNBA icon helps Missouri man get another shot at life outside prison walls

July 14, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

WNBA star Maya Moore has scored a win in the courtroom by helping to get a St. Louis area man freed from prison this month. The Missouri Western District Court of Appeals granted the release of Johnathan Irons, who was locked up for more than 20 years for a violent O’Fallon home burglary he insists he did not do. Several gun shots were fired during the 1997 break-in, leaving the homeowner with a serious head injury.

Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons (Photo courtesy of Moore’s Twitter page)

Moore, who grew up in Jefferson City and is a longtime friend of Irons, stepped away from the game in the prime of her career to help Irons get out of prison. Outside the Jefferson City Correctional Center, she fell to her knees as she watched Irons take his first steps as a free man again.

During a conference call with reporters from across the globe, she said a huge weight has been lifted off her family’s shoulders.

“This is similar to a championship in the feeling of like the next day exhaustion of like ‘We just went to the mountain top and now oh yeah – our bodies are exhausted,’” said Moore.

For the past 18 months, she has been helping her extended family put on a full court press to get Irons released. Moore’s godfather, Reginald Williams, made a pivotal discovery when he uncovered a document within the O’Fallon Police Department’s evidence files – an unidentified fingerprint from the crime scene. That piece of evidence turned up several years after the original court trial concluded.

The revelation led to an appeal last October in which his lawyers made the case that no physical evidence connects Irons to the crime. They also argued that police mishandled the original case in several ways.

Moore says she never truly felt like Irons would not have his conviction overturned.

“There’s something about truth that just makes you believe it’s going to happen – when you have the facts right in front of you,” says Moore. “I’ve heard Jonathan say this, like he just had to keep believing ‘If we get the truth in front of the right people who want to do the right thing, they’ll do it.’ When I decided to use my platform and my voice, I was just shining a light with the resources that I had on the facts that were already there, trying to put it into the hands of people who could do something about it.”

Irons was represented by a powerful group of four attorneys from the high-profile law firm of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry in St. Louis.

Moore thinks Irons’ win and George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis can change history.

“This is an issue of long-term dehumanization that has been expressed intentionally through systems in our country. And so because I think we are beginning to talk more about the root of systemic racism, which is centered on dehumanizing people, we can start to weed out the dehumanizing practices through these systems. Changing systems doesn’t make sense until you get to the heart behind that system.”

Moore, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time NCAA champion and four-time WNBA titlist, launched a non-profit inspired by Irons. Win With Justice educates people about prosecutorial misconduct and aims to redefine what a win is in the criminal justice system.

Previous stories:

WNBA star in Missouri courtroom to help imprisoned friend score ‘Win With Justice’
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vHX

Cole County judge orders mystery fingerprint to be cross-checked in violent 1997 burglary case
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vWk

Maya Moore to sit out second WNBA season to push for Missouri man’s prison release
https://wp.me/p16gMv-w4Y

Missouri man in prison for violent 1997 burglary could be a free man soon
https://wp.me/p16gMv-whE

Inmate who stomped an elderly woman to death during a 1982 robbery dies in Missouri prison

May 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

An inmate who’s been incarcerated for 37 years for the high-profile murder of an elderly woman in eastern Missouri has died in a Jefferson City prison.

This picture of Harold Felker was taken at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in February 2020 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections website)

64-year-old Harold Felker was convicted of second degree murder and first degree robbery for the August 1982 death of Lillie Hildebrant in eastern Missouri’s Jefferson County.

The murder received major news media coverage in St. Louis, at the time.

A 1982 UPI story says the 85-year-old Hildebrant was stomped to death, and that her chest was crushed. About $10,000 in cash was taken during the robbery.

The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) says Felker was pronounced dead Saturday night at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center. The DOC says Felker died of apparent natural causes.

Felker entered the state prison system in February 1983.

Retired Missouri judge: “Justice cries for Bobby Bostic to be released”

January 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A retired St. Louis judge who sentenced a teen to 241 years in prison in 1997 says her sentence should be overturned. Judge Evelyn Baker traveled to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on Tuesday, in support of legislation aimed at providing a parole hearing for Bobby Bostic.

41-year-old Bobby Bostic is incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center (December 2017 file photo courtesy of Missouri DOC)

Bostic, who’s now 41, is incarcerated at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC). While he was convicted on 16 felony counts, including robbery and armed criminal action, his supporters note his crime did not cause death or serious injuries to victims.

Bostic has been incarcerated since March 1997, for robbing a group of people who were delivering Christmas gifts to needy St. Louisans in 1995.

Judge Evelyn Baker briefed Capitol reporters on Tuesday, and Missourinet asked the retired judge about her 1997 sentence.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would never have sentenced that child (Bostic) to 241 years,” Baker says. “I didn’t know it then, but I do know it now. And it’s my duty to try to rectify a wrong.”

Bostic was 16 at the time of the robbery. Judge Baker says “Bobby was just a kid who was 16 years old. His brain had years to go before he became a full-fledged adult.”

Baker supports bipartisan legislation from State Reps. Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon) and Barbara Washington (D-Kansas City) that would give Bostic an immediate parole hearing.

Bostic currently has to wait until he’s 112 years old, to get a hearing. Washington says Bostic should have never been certified as an adult, in the case.

Retired St. Louis Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker briefs Capitol reporters on January 21, 2020, as State Reps. Nick Schroer and Barbara Washington look on (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

As for Schroer, who serves on the Missouri House Judiciary Committee, he tells Capitol reporters that none of Bostic’s victims were killed or seriously injured, adding that Bostic prevented a sexual assault from happening that night.

“It is noteworthy to mention that zero of these victims from that one night have indicated that they are against Mr. Bostic being granted clemency or parole,” says Schroer.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” has reported that Bostic was with an 18-year-old co-defendant during the 1995 incident, and that while two people were shot, no one was seriously injured.

The co-defendant accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to 30 years, according to the newspaper.

Representative Schroer emphasizes the legislation doesn’t guarantee Bostic parole, but simply a hearing and an opportunity to appear before Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board.

The bill is House Bill 2201.

Schroer also says Bostic has been involved in restorative justice efforts in prison.

“In the months ahead of us you will learn about how Bobby Bostic is a changed man, fully repentant, obtaining many scholastic accolades and degrees,” Schroer says. “He has taken full responsibility for his actions on that one December night in 1995.”

Judge Baker tells the Capitol Press Corps that “justice cries for Bobby Bostic to be released.”

During their press conference, Representatives Schroer and Washington also called on Governor Mike Parson (R) to grant Bostic clemency. Schroer says he spoke to Governor Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson about the case, in 2019.

In addition to Judge Baker, Schroer and Washington were also joined by several lawmakers from both parties. They included State Reps. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, Rasheen Aldridge Jr., D-St. Louis, LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette. The ACLU’s Sara Baker also attended and spoke.

Baker notes Bostic has written poetry and has been teaching other inmates how to read. The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) says Bostic has also been involved in the Puppies for Parole program.