Kendric was wrongly convicted of the 1997 murder of Charles Newsome in West Memphis, Ark. He was convicted alongside Antonio Williams and DeMarco Wilson in Judge David Burnett’s courtroom. Judge Burnett also presided over the infamous West Memphis 3 case.
At dusk on February 1, 1997, Charles Newsome was shot while driving his car in the Mayfair Apartments parking lot in West Memphis, Ark. Mr. Newsome was a known gang member with a violent past. He had at least one known passenger in the car, Frederick ‘Tyrone’ Ellis, but according to some witnesses, a third person was also in the car.
Several witnesses described a gunfight between the car the victim was driving and either three or four individuals in the parking lot. There are different accounts of the number of people in the parking lot, the number of people in the car, the involvement of another car, and other key details. However, what is clear is that there was a hail of bullets, some of which struck other houses and vehicles, and Mr. Newsome was shot twice, once in the arm and another through his back, which was the cause of fatal internal injuries.
Tyrone Ellis, the known passenger in the car with the victim, gave his first statement to police about two hours after the shooting. He did not mention DeMarco Wilson , Antonio Williams, or Kendric Gillum in that statement. It was a few days later when he gave another statement mentioning Antonio and Kendric, then a subsequent third statement in which he claimed DeMarco was also involved. In fact, Mr. Ellis alleged a fourth person, Ronald Jackson, was part of the group that shot at them, but Mr. Jackson was never charged.
The night of the crime, the scene was never secured and no serious attempt was made to gather all of the shell casings or look for other potentially valuable evidence. Instead, it was left up to neighbors to collect pieces of evidence in the following days. This would prove to be significant as the number and types of firearms remains a serious point of contention in this crime.
The state argued the shooting was the result of a rivalry between two street gangs, including one that Mr. Ellis belonged to. Once police and prosecutors had a statement from Ellis naming specific people, they then began to build a case around the three by making deals with other witnesses and ignoring evidence that pointed away from DeMarco, Ken, and Antonio.
The trial began on November 4, 1997 and DeMarco, Antonio, and Kendric were tried as co-defendants, despite defense attorneys moving to sever them. The presiding judge was David Burnett, who just a few years before infamously presided over the West Memphis 3 case.
The key witness for the state was Tyrone Ellis, who was in the car with the victim when Mr. Newsome was shot and killed. After changing his statements multiple times in the hours and days following the crime, he said that it was the three defendants who were there. He testified that only two defendants had guns, but he couldn’t say which two despite testifying that he knows all three. He also said in statements that there was a fourth person with them, but could not identify who that was. It should also be noted that Mr. Ellis was facing several charges for other crimes, but those were dropped once he agreed to give statements and testify.
Another state witness, Kevin Johnson, also gave several contradictory statements and confusing testimony. He stated that he knows all three defendants and only one of them had a gun, but he could not say which one. He was a known associate of Ellis and Newsome.
Another factor in the trial was the use of two jailhouse snitches, Jeff Cayton and Hugh Foster. Each of these witnesses gave false testimony in which they claimed Ken Gillum confessed to the crime to them. Mr. Cayton has since recounted his testimony and says the prosecution made deals with him on charges he was facing in exchange for his testimony.
The jury found DeMarco, Ken, and Antonio guilty on December 7, 1997.
Kendric is currently serving a life sentence in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Proclaim Justice is investigating his case and working diligently to win his freedom.
1. If you have any information about this crime, please contact us at 512-605-7525 or email our director, John Hardin, at John[at]proclaimjustice[dot]org.
2. Write Kendric! Just a quick note to say hello from a stranger is often a big boost to victims of wrongful conviction.
Kendric Gillum #110651
P.O. Box 500
Grady, AR 71644-0500