Help Joyce Watkins rebuild after her exoneration

 

Hi! My name is Lane Shuler and I'm raising money to help Joyce Watkins build a new life after she spent 27 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit.

 

In 1988, after a plethora of mistakes by our justice system, Joyce and her boyfriend at the time, Charlie Dunn, were sentenced to life in prison.

 

Charlie and Joyce were granted parole in 2015, but sadly Charlie passed away on January 12, 2015, months before he was slated for release. Joyce was released on parole on October 15, 2015, but she was required to register as a sex offender.

 

In 2020 Joyce began working with the Tennessee Innocence Project to clear her name and start a new life. After an intensive investigation, the Davidson County Conviction Review Unit found "Clear and convincing evidence establishing Ms. Watkins and Mr. Dunn were convicted of crimes they did not commit.”

 

 

 

On January 12, 2022 Joyce became the first African-American woman exonerated in the state of TN. While she finally has the freedom she deserves, being in prison takes an untold cost on someone’s life. Opportunities missed, investments never made, property never purchased, businesses never grown and sold.

 

Joyce lost her home and all her savings when she went to prison; she had to sell her home, and all her money was spent on her legal fees. She was in the process of adopting a baby when she was wrongfully arrested. As a result of this conviction, she never had the chance to be a mother. At the time of the arrest, Joyce was fully employed, owned her home, and had no criminal record.

 

If it can happen to Joyce. It can happen to anyone.

 

There’s nothing you can do to put the sand back into the top half of Joyce’s hourglass.

There’s no way to adequately repair the damage that a wrongful conviction of this magnitude can cause…

But you can open your heart and give Joyce and her family something that can make the next chapter of her life just a little bit easier.

 

 

 

Thank you for your generosity. After donating, please share this page with family and friends!

 

 

For more information on the case, visit https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6096

All money generated will go directly to Joyce Watkins.

My name is Lane Shuler and I am on the board of directors for the Tennessee Innocence Project, the organization that helped exonerate Joyce Watkins.

If you are interested in learning more about the Tennessee Innocence Project, please visit this link - https://www.tninnocence.org