A tale of two Tyras
Tyra Patterson says she was an innocent teenage bystander who ran away from a murder. Prosecutors say she was party to a killing. In the first chapter of a Guardian special report, explore how a young woman from poverty-stricken Ohio fell victim to America’s addiction to incarceration – and what might still set her free
‘This could have cleared her’
A confession. A 911 call the jury never heard. Was Tyra Patterson forced to lie – or has she spent decades in prison because nobody helped her tell the truth? The second chapter of a Guardian special report
‘Time to come home’
After 21 years, Tyra Patterson’s freedom rests in the hands of a Republican candidate for the White House. Hers is the kind of incarceration that everyone from Obama to the Koch brothers believes can be made right. But can America ever overcome a system it designed to keep people locked up? The third and final chapter of a Guardian special report
