“I didn’t know it then, but for the next two and a half decades, I was going to be waking up in a prison cell every day for something I did not do.” – Mike Crump

Learn more about Mike’s case by reading Part 2 of Mike's own description of his wrongful conviction, presented by the Death Row Soul Collective on Facebook on March 25, 2022.

Michael “Mike” Crump was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1996 in Virginia and sentenced to 40 years in prison at the age of 19 based on a cross-racial misidentification by an eyewitness who was present in a home when an intruder suddenly burst in and shot the victim, Eric “Nike” Jones. 

Mike had alibi witnesses and no history of violence or firearm possession.  No physical evidence connected him to the crime.  The prosecution’s case rested solely on the identification of Mike by the traumatized young woman who initially told 911, “I think [the shooter is] a black male” and she could not see the intruder because the room was dark.  Immediately after the shooting, the eyewitness also told police that she had not seen the shooter's face because he wore a hooded sweatshirt drawn tightly around it, covering all but his eyes, nose, and mouth.

A week later, after the young woman saw someone she thought was the shooter at a convenience store, detectives twice showed her an improper photo lineup where Mike was the only individual wearing a hoodie.  The eyewitness’s uncertainty then shifted to certainty that Mike was the shooter.   

Below is Mike’s description of his wrongful conviction, Part 2: 

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Part 2 - There was no way this was serious, right?

Mike speaks...

After I was transported to the jail for the murder of Nike, my main emotion was one of shock. How could police pin a murder on me that I knew nothing about? At the point of my arrest I didn’t even know if Nike was black, white, or Hispanic. How could I even be accused of the murder of someone whose race I didn’t know, let alone arrested and sent to jail for it?

As the weeks passed and I woke up in jail cell every morning, my shock turned into annoyance, and on some days despair. The reality dawned on me that no one was coming to tell me it was a mistake. No one was coming to apologise for wrongly accusing me of the crime I did not commit. No one was coming to release me and let me go home to my mom and sisters. They missed me desperately, and needed me at home with them. I felt so helpless.

I felt stupid for speaking to the police without an attorney present, but I was 18 years old. I believed that all I had to do was tell the truth and that would be enough. Now I know otherwise.

My family did not have money to pay for a private attorney, so I was appointed a public defender. I put my faith in him. I was a teenager and he was the expert, right? So I listened to him, and I believed him when he told me there was no way I would be convicted of murder. He said there was not enough evidence. He told me that the case would get thrown out at the preliminary hearing as the prosecution’s case against me was too weak. However, at the preliminary hearing several months after my arrest the judge certified the case, which meant we would be proceeding to trial.

It was at that point I began to think it was a set up. How could we be going to trial with no solid evidence against me? No fibers, no fingerprints, no hairs, no murder weapon…nothing to link me to Nike’s murder, apart from the word of one eyewitness- another person I had never met or seen before in my entire life. How could she pin this murder on me when I wasn’t even there? Why? I didn’t have the answers to any of those questions. I just prayed it would be over soon. Someone would see sense or Nike’s real killer would be apprehended, right?

As we prepared for trial, my defender acted like my friend; like my confidant. I looked forward to his visits. He brought me candy and cigarettes. His wife even made me home cooked meals. I trusted him. I had to trust him. He was the person who was going to save me from this nightmare that I found myself in. He was my lifeline.

It was a few weeks before the trial that my defender told me that we should opt for a bench trial. He explained that a jury would not believe me, as they didn’t understand the law, but a judge would immediately see that there was insufficient evidence to convict me of murder, and would dismiss the case. I explained to him that my mom had insisted on a jury trial, and that’s what I wanted too, but he disregarded this. He told me he would talk to my mom and explain that a bench trial would be in my best interests. I felt uncomfortable. I was worried, but again, what did I know?

By the day of the trial on March 12, 1996, I was confident I would be going home. By that point I had been in jail for 5 months, and it felt like a lifetime. I was desperate to get my freedom back.

I didn’t know it then, but prior to my arrest, police had the names of six other suspects for Nike’s murder- but all of those leads were immediately dropped when my name came up, despite the Commonwealth Attorney and the Police Department having a sworn duty to fully investigate every lead.

I was not aware, and would not become aware until many years later, that a month prior to my trial, another person had been named as Nike’s real killer in a recorded phone call that had been set up by the Commonwealth and my attorney.

I wasn’t aware then that the eyewitness had changed her story every single time she spoke to police, saying on the night of the shooting she could not identify anyone as it was too dark, but a month later giving a detailed description of the shooter down to the make and color of the sneakers they wore.

I didn’t know then that every single other person who witnessed Nike tragically losing his life that night, had been unable to give police any meaningful description of the shooter because it was too dark, it happened too quickly, and most importantly, the intruder didn’t even enter the residence. I learnt later that there had been a short scuffle at the doorway as Nike had bravely tried to stop the intruder entering the home. It was at that point he had been fatally shot. One bullet ending the life of this young man, who at just 21, had his whole life ahead of him.

I also didn’t know it then, but for the next 2 and a half decades, I was going to be waking up in a prison cell every day for something I did not do.

Now at the age of 45 I look back and realise how naive I was, but on the day of my trial I woke up truly believing I was going home to my family. There was no way this was serious, right?

*At the age of just 18 years old, Michael Crump was arrested and wrongfully convicted of the tragic murder of 21-year-old Eric “Nike” Jones in Virginia after an eyewitness misidentified Mike due to his hoodie.

*Please sign and share this petition, which the nonprofit UNCUFF THE INNOCENT will be using to support Michael Crump's case for freedom by urging Virginia’s Governor and Attorney General to investigate his wrongful conviction.

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