Half-brothers exonerated on rape and murder charges make public appearance
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two half-brothers who served 30 years for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl made their first public appearance Friday since they were exonerated of the charges and freed from prison last month.
Leon Brown, 46 and Henry McCollum, 50 attended the 20th anniversary awards dinner for the advocacy group People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.
Brown and McCollum's release came after an North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission review uncovered DNA evidence that linked someone else to the crimes.
In 1983 Sabrina Buie was found dead in Red Springs. McCollum and Brown both admitted to the crimes after what their lawyers later argued were coerced confessions.
Both men kept a low-key presence at the dinner at the Friday Center, and would not talk to news media, but several dignitaries mentioned their case.
Among them former state senator Eleanor Kinnard and State Sen. Floyd McKissick. Both lauded Brown and McCollum as living examples of the flaws with our justice system.
