TOLEDO, Ohio — In the early morning hours of May 20, 2005, Kenneth Nixon was in his Detroit home when his world exploded.
“The first thing I heard was the door being smashed open, a lot of footsteps, and before I could make a decision, there were a lot of people in tactical gear with big guns pointed at me,” Nixon said.
He was arrested for a firebombing that had happened hours earlier at the home of a man who had a brief affair with Nixon’s girlfriend. The bombing killed two young children. Police said a surviving child identified Nixon.
He was convicted of killing the children in September 2005.
But what police didn’t tell the jury is that the young witness changed his story multiple times and may not have even said “Bean,” which was Nixon’s nickname. In addition, a jailhouse informant convinced the jury that Nixon was the bomber, saying that he confessed.
“I didn’t know his name, his face, anything," Nixon said. "I didn’t know anything prior to him showing up in court, so it was a bit strange. It was awful to be in a situation where this was happening, but at that point, I knew I was done. I knew there was no winning at that point."
But that informant later admitted that he knew nothing about Nixon’s case, except for what he learned on the news. He was seeking a deal in his own robbery, a deal that he eventually received.
The jury was never given that information.
“The day of sentencing comes around, and I barely remember it," Nixon said. "I remember bits and pieces, but I was numb. The first two charges that were read were murder, and I blanked out after that because it’s automatic life sentence at that point.”
It was life in prison for a then 19-year-old who did not have a criminal record and who repeatedly told police and others that he knew nothing about the crime.
“I’ll be honest with you, the first six to eight months of being incarcerated, it was a huge adjustment – not only the doors locking but the environment itself,” Nixon said. “People telling you what you can and can’t do and being in a caged room with someone who is actually a murderer or a rapist.”
After years of appeals, Nixon connected with the Cooley Law School Innocence Project at Western Michigan University in 2016. The Wayne County conviction integrity unit began investigating the case and convinced a judge in 2021 that Nixon was wrongfully convicted, one of 3,308 in the country since 1989.
He was released after more than 16 years in prison.
“I believe the Wayne County conviction integrity unit saved my life,” Nixon said. “I had gone through practically every appellate process that was available to me. My family had spent more than $100,000 on lawyers.”
Nixon is one of 36 men who have been exonerated since 2018 after investigations by the Wayne County CIU.
“The exonerations are heart-warming. You’re glad that we’ve been able to correct an injustice,” said Valerie Newman, a former defense attorney who heads the Wayne County unit. “They’re also terrifying and sad because someone has lost so many years of their liberty when they didn’t need to.”
In Wayne County, the unit was started and championed by Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who is known for being tough on crime but also a fierce advocate of justice.
“Here in Detroit, we have a prosecutor who firmly believes - and has stated over and over that she believes - in justice,” Newman said. “If justice means our work shows that someone was wrongly convicted, in this office, we’re going to do something about it. But you have other prosecutors who are not willing to say that. You have prosecutors who think the system is infallible and can’t see past a conviction.”
In Lucas County, three men have been put on the national exoneration list since Prosecutor Julia Bates was elected in 1996 – Dale Beckett, Willie Knighten Jr., and Danny Brown. All three were exonerated after court intervention.
None of the reviews were initiated by Bates’ office.
Two men, Wayne Braddy and Karl Willis, were recently released after more than 23 years in prison on murder charges after Bates agreed to allow them to plead to lesser charges. But a 2019 WTOL investigation “Guilty without Proof” showed that the state no longer has any witnesses saying the men are guilty.
Giving Alford pleas was their only immediate path to freedom.
Lucas County does not have a conviction integrity unit and Bates has yet to respond to a WTOL 11 request to discuss the idea.
On Monday, Franklin County’s new conviction integrity unit began processing innocence claims. The only other units in the state are in Cuyahoga and Summit counties.
Last year, appellate Judge Gene Zmuda of Toledo chaired an Ohio Supreme Court task force that recommended the state create an Ohio Innocence Commission to review claims of innocence. A bill was introduced late last year to accept the recommendation, but it died without a vote being taken.
In Michigan, all major counties have a CIU and there is also one at the attorney general’s office. There are roughly 100 units across the country.
“Conviction integrity units are responsible for a large percentage of cases where people end up on the National Registry of Exonerations. It’s a trend that I hope continues and grows because it’s important for justice,” Newman said. “I think the community has a lot more trust in the prosecutor’s office when they’re willing to say, ‘We got it wrong, and we’re willing to admit we got it wrong.’”
In Wayne County, the CIU is part of the budget for the prosecutor’s office and it is supplemented by several grants. Newman recommends it be led by a person with a defense background and also that there be at least one full-time investigator.
Prosecutor Worthy’s office has investigated more than 900 cases in the past five years and recommended relief in 36 cases. A judge has agreed with her recommendation in each case.
And one of the cases, of course, is Nixon’s. His major push is judicial reform and education, calling the system a “cruel beast” for those without resources to fight it. He also works on re-entry programs and is adjusting to life as a free man.
“I enjoy the quiet. In prison, there’s nothing that’s ever quiet and there’s no place where you can go and close the door and collect your thoughts,” Nixon said. “One of my bad habits that I’m still trying to shake is that I’ll sit up until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning because that’s the only time the world is quiet.”
If you would like to see a conviction integrity unit in Lucas County, or even at the state level, email 11investigates@wtol.com.
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