Justice for Maureen Onyelobi
The Issue
PLEASE NOTE: Donations do NOT go to neither Maureen nor the organizer of this petition. Donating only supports GoFundMe. Please use discretion when choosing to donate. Thank you!
#FREEMAUREENO
This petition is on behalf of Maureen Onyelobi. She grew up on the south side of Chicago to Nigerian parents with two brilliant sisters. In 2014, she was convicted of Felony Aiding and Abetting for being present during the tragic killing of Anthony Fairbanks and was sentenced to life without parole. The actual killer received a second degree murder charge and will be released in 19 years.
She experienced two ineffective counsels, a biased jury, and illegally obtained evidence. Maureen had no knowledge that the murder was going to happen and her conviction was based off of circumstantial and ill-gotten evidence. Maureen has spent her time in prison working, mentoring, gardening, doing restorative justice work, becoming a paralegal, and preparing to begin law school.
A message from Maureen:
"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful." -Malala Yousafzai.
Until you become a part of the criminal justice system yourself or have a loved one taken from you by the prison system, you don't realize how jaded and cynical the entire process is from the arrest to the conviction to the appeal.
I am a 34 year old Nigerian woman. I was born in this country, and since I was a child, I have done everything I could to make my parents proud.
I graduated at the top of my class in elementary school. In high school, my behavior started to change, but nevertheless, I graduated. I later earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and a few years later earned a second Bachelor's Degree in English literature.
The year I was arrested, I received acceptance to Hamline University in the hopes of earning a Master's of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing. In January of 2020, while incarcerated, I graduated with distinction, receiving my Paralegal diploma.
I only lived in Minnesota for eight months before being arrested. I came to this state from Illinois with my ex-boyfriend who sold illegal substances. I was leading a sort of double life and it was only a matter of time before my bad decisions caught up with me. I am paying a heavy price for my past choices and lifestyle, but it does not justify how I received excessive sentencing and enhanced charges for a crime I did not bring into fruition.
George Floyd's death has invoked, for the first time, a global civil rights movement. I am in Minnesota, ground zero of this movement, but my injustice started six and a half years ago.
I am still in utter disillusion about how I was convicted of aiding and abetting first degree murder and my conviction was upheld three times, when I didn't even know the murder was going to happen and had no time to withdraw. I received a life without parole sentence and the actual shooter was only convicted of second degree murder and will be eligible for parole in twenty years and eligible for an early release program in nineteen years.
Three officers were charged for aiding and abetting in George Floyd's horrific death. The charging of the officers has been widely controversial, mainly because many people believe the officers should have never been charged. I say to those people: you don't know Minnesota's aiding and abetting laws...The officers partook in the physical use of excessive force while restraining Mr. Floyd for nearly nine minutes while he suffocated to death.
The level of culpability the officers have in this crime, well surpasses the level of culpability of the crime I am serving a life without parole sentence for and that deeply saddens me.
Society is telling me my life doesn't matter and somehow an officer's rights are more valuable than mines because I'm not the right race or in the right tax bracket. This reality is the reason I support felony murder law reform. The passing of a new law will abolish the century old view of holding all parties involved to the same level of culpability. My life was taken from me and Felony Law Reform is hope for me that one day I can get it back.
I am just one person caught up in this criminal justice system that has turned into a well oiled machine of baselessness and systematic racism, but I pray my voice can give strength in a world that is in unrest. If you are reading this, I hope my story has shed light on why I and so many others need your help to change a system that is miserably failing. We can't do it alone."
--------
Maureen is a sister, a daughter, an aunt, and a darn good friend...But above all, she is human. Maureen Ndidiamaka Onyelobi is the most optimistic, hardworking, ambitious person I know, and despite all the ways she has been disregarded, she remains excited about the future. She is a problem solver, and always speaks up for herself. She just does not quit. Won’t you join me in uplifting her story and amplifying her voice so that she may come back to us, her family? We need to feel her warm hugs and the closeness of her ridiculous laughter. We need to inspire others like her who are victims of sentencing disparagement all over the world, and empower them to reach out for help, and win. We need justice for Maureen!
Further actions you can take to help Maureen and others like her:
Please take a second to sign the petition below to Support SF 3802/HF 3976 Task for Bills Reform Felony Murder Laws in Minnesota
You can sign this petition, share, or post the hashtag: #FreeMaureenO and please call and write to the members of the Minnesota Board of Pardons:
Office of Governor Tim Walz
130 State Capitol
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Telephone: 651-201-3400
Toll Free: 800-657-3717
Minnesota Relay: 800-627-3529
Staffed office hours are: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
https://mn.gov/governor/contact/
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
U.S. MAIL ONLY:
Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
445 Minnesota Street
Suite 1400
St. Paul, MN 55101-2131
Twin Cities Calling Area:
(651) 296-3353
Outside the Twin Cities:
(800) 657-3787
Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea
Minnesota Judicial Center
Supreme Court
(651) 297-7650
http://www.mncourts.gov/About-The-Courts/Overview/JudicialDirectory/Bio.aspx?jid=1529
4,115
The Issue
PLEASE NOTE: Donations do NOT go to neither Maureen nor the organizer of this petition. Donating only supports GoFundMe. Please use discretion when choosing to donate. Thank you!
#FREEMAUREENO
This petition is on behalf of Maureen Onyelobi. She grew up on the south side of Chicago to Nigerian parents with two brilliant sisters. In 2014, she was convicted of Felony Aiding and Abetting for being present during the tragic killing of Anthony Fairbanks and was sentenced to life without parole. The actual killer received a second degree murder charge and will be released in 19 years.
She experienced two ineffective counsels, a biased jury, and illegally obtained evidence. Maureen had no knowledge that the murder was going to happen and her conviction was based off of circumstantial and ill-gotten evidence. Maureen has spent her time in prison working, mentoring, gardening, doing restorative justice work, becoming a paralegal, and preparing to begin law school.
A message from Maureen:
"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful." -Malala Yousafzai.
Until you become a part of the criminal justice system yourself or have a loved one taken from you by the prison system, you don't realize how jaded and cynical the entire process is from the arrest to the conviction to the appeal.
I am a 34 year old Nigerian woman. I was born in this country, and since I was a child, I have done everything I could to make my parents proud.
I graduated at the top of my class in elementary school. In high school, my behavior started to change, but nevertheless, I graduated. I later earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and a few years later earned a second Bachelor's Degree in English literature.
The year I was arrested, I received acceptance to Hamline University in the hopes of earning a Master's of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing. In January of 2020, while incarcerated, I graduated with distinction, receiving my Paralegal diploma.
I only lived in Minnesota for eight months before being arrested. I came to this state from Illinois with my ex-boyfriend who sold illegal substances. I was leading a sort of double life and it was only a matter of time before my bad decisions caught up with me. I am paying a heavy price for my past choices and lifestyle, but it does not justify how I received excessive sentencing and enhanced charges for a crime I did not bring into fruition.
George Floyd's death has invoked, for the first time, a global civil rights movement. I am in Minnesota, ground zero of this movement, but my injustice started six and a half years ago.
I am still in utter disillusion about how I was convicted of aiding and abetting first degree murder and my conviction was upheld three times, when I didn't even know the murder was going to happen and had no time to withdraw. I received a life without parole sentence and the actual shooter was only convicted of second degree murder and will be eligible for parole in twenty years and eligible for an early release program in nineteen years.
Three officers were charged for aiding and abetting in George Floyd's horrific death. The charging of the officers has been widely controversial, mainly because many people believe the officers should have never been charged. I say to those people: you don't know Minnesota's aiding and abetting laws...The officers partook in the physical use of excessive force while restraining Mr. Floyd for nearly nine minutes while he suffocated to death.
The level of culpability the officers have in this crime, well surpasses the level of culpability of the crime I am serving a life without parole sentence for and that deeply saddens me.
Society is telling me my life doesn't matter and somehow an officer's rights are more valuable than mines because I'm not the right race or in the right tax bracket. This reality is the reason I support felony murder law reform. The passing of a new law will abolish the century old view of holding all parties involved to the same level of culpability. My life was taken from me and Felony Law Reform is hope for me that one day I can get it back.
I am just one person caught up in this criminal justice system that has turned into a well oiled machine of baselessness and systematic racism, but I pray my voice can give strength in a world that is in unrest. If you are reading this, I hope my story has shed light on why I and so many others need your help to change a system that is miserably failing. We can't do it alone."
--------
Maureen is a sister, a daughter, an aunt, and a darn good friend...But above all, she is human. Maureen Ndidiamaka Onyelobi is the most optimistic, hardworking, ambitious person I know, and despite all the ways she has been disregarded, she remains excited about the future. She is a problem solver, and always speaks up for herself. She just does not quit. Won’t you join me in uplifting her story and amplifying her voice so that she may come back to us, her family? We need to feel her warm hugs and the closeness of her ridiculous laughter. We need to inspire others like her who are victims of sentencing disparagement all over the world, and empower them to reach out for help, and win. We need justice for Maureen!
Further actions you can take to help Maureen and others like her:
Please take a second to sign the petition below to Support SF 3802/HF 3976 Task for Bills Reform Felony Murder Laws in Minnesota
You can sign this petition, share, or post the hashtag: #FreeMaureenO and please call and write to the members of the Minnesota Board of Pardons:
Office of Governor Tim Walz
130 State Capitol
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Telephone: 651-201-3400
Toll Free: 800-657-3717
Minnesota Relay: 800-627-3529
Staffed office hours are: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
https://mn.gov/governor/contact/
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
U.S. MAIL ONLY:
Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
445 Minnesota Street
Suite 1400
St. Paul, MN 55101-2131
Twin Cities Calling Area:
(651) 296-3353
Outside the Twin Cities:
(800) 657-3787
Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea
Minnesota Judicial Center
Supreme Court
(651) 297-7650
http://www.mncourts.gov/About-The-Courts/Overview/JudicialDirectory/Bio.aspx?jid=1529
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
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Petition created on July 16, 2020