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An Arizona man who was convinced and sentenced to death in the death of a four-year-old was released from prison on Thursday (15 June) after serving 29 years in prison. Barry Lee Jones, 64, was accused of murder, child abuse and sexual assault in the death of his girlfriend’s daughter, Rachel Gray, in 1994. For nearly 30 years, Mr Jones has maintained his innocence that he did not sexually assault or kill her. Now, after a years-long appeal process, a Pima County judge ordered Mr Jones’s release after approving a deal that Mr Jones’s defence team struck with prosecutors who said a medical re-examination of the case didn’t support a finding that Mr Jones caused the girl’s injury. Mr Jones pled guilty to second-degree murder. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office said evidence supported that because Mr Jones was caring for Rachel at the time, allowing her to die as a result of her injuries. “After almost 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Barry Jones is finally coming home,” Cary Sandman, a federal public defender who represented Mr Jones for over 20 years said as reported by the Arizona Republic. The case In early May 1994, Mr Jones drove his girlfriend, Angela Gray and her four-year-old daughter to a Tuscon hospital, where the child was pronounced dead upon arrival. Mr Jones had been living with his daughter, Ms Gray and her three daughters for approximately three months at the time of the incident in a trailer park in Tuscon. Doctors noted the young child had bruises covering her body and a cut on her head. An autopsy showed that Rachel’s death was caused by a small bowel laceration due to “blunt abdominal trauma” according to an investigation from The Intercept. Immediately fingers were pointed at Mr Jones and Ms Gray. Mr Jones reportedly said Rachel was injured while on his watch the day before but it was not his doing. The young girl had hit her head after falling from his parked work van. The four-year-old told Mr Jones a little boy pushed her out of the van and hit her in the stomach with a metal bar. However, the key witnesses comprised of eight-year-old twins and Rachel’s 10-year-old sister, claimed they may have seen Mr Jones hitting Rachel. Mr Jones was arrested and charged with child abuse as well as the murder and sexual assault of Rachel. He was found guilty by a jury in April 1995. However, in Mr Jones’s appeals, it is noted that the jury did not receive all of the information related to the case – like evidence that alleged Ms Gray had been abusive toward her children and potential predators interacted with Rachel. The appeal Mr Jones’s first appealed in 1997 but the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the conviction. He tried to appeal again in 2008, this time federally, but it was denied. Finally, in 2014, Mr Jones’s case was remanded to a federal district judge after new evidence emerged about the young boy who hit Rachel in the stomach with a metal bar. The federal judge called for Mr Jones’s release in a July 2018 ruling, concluding Jones’ earlier lawyer had failed to adequately investigate whether the girl’s injuries were suffered during the time she was alone with him. Experts testified that Rachel may have been injured earlier. The judge’s ruling was upheld by an appeals court, though Jones remained in prison. But the US Supreme Court reversed the decision a year ago, with Justice Clarence Thomas saying the federal courts are generally barred from taking in new evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel that could help prisoners. With Mr Jones still behind bars, his attorneys struck a deal with prosecutors for his release. Under the agreement, once his convictions and death sentence were thrown out, Mr Jones pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in connection with his failure to seek medical care for the girl. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and will be given credit for time served. Now that Jones’ death sentence has been thrown out, Arizona has 110 people on its death row. Read More Arizona woman alleges sexual assault by Trevor Bauer; he denies allegation and countersues Australian man sentenced to 9 years in prison for gay American's 1988 manslaughter US Marine among two men arrested for firebombing California Planned Parenthood Heather Mack’s mother told police she feared her daughter would kill her. They were powerless to prevent it Woman accused of murdering husband ‘pushed him’ while holding knife, jury told

By Panu Wongcha-um, Poppy McPherson and Ananda Teresia BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's caretaker government is proposing to "fully re-engage" Myanmar's military

A group of Democratic lawmakers has reintroduced a joint resolution to negate a clause in the 13th Amendment of the Constitution that permits slavery or involuntary servitude "as a punishment for crime."

Six people, including three children, are dead after a horror murder-suicide in Marion County, Tennessee, authorities say. Police and fire teams were called to an address in Sequatchie at about 9pm on Thursday night after neighbors reported hearing gunfire, neighbors told WTVC. The found six victims from the same family dead, and a seventh suffering from gunshot wounds in what authorities are describing as a “domestic incident”. Marion County Sheriff Bo Burnett described the scene as being 'one of the worst I've been involved in all my career as a law enforcement officer.' Breaking more to come

Unionized UPS workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike on Friday, setting the stage for a potential work stoppage if the package delivery company and the Teamsters can’t come to an agreement on a new contract

The general manager of a television news station in western Michigan has apologized after staff received a memo telling reporters to cover fewer LGBTQ+ events during Pride Month because coverage could be “polarizing.”

Former President Barack Obama will sit down with CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour for an exclusive in-depth conversation about the state of democracy that will air June 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

Pacific Investment Management Co. will pay $9 million over allegations from the US Securities and Exchange Commission that

“Suitcase killer” Heather Mack has pleaded guilty in a Chicago court today over the 2014 murder of her socialite mother in Bali, bringing some sort of conclusion to the shocking case. In August 2014, Mack, then 18 and pregnant, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, then 21, bludgeoned Sheila von Weise-Mack, 62, to death with a metal fruit stand while on vacation at the luxury 5-star St Regis resort on the Indonesian island. The couple, who described themselves as “Bonnie and Clyde” in chilling text messages, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it in the trunk of a taxi. They were both convicted of premeditated murder in Indonesia – narrowly escaping death by firing squad. After serving seven years in a Bali jail (where her daughter was born), Mack was extradited to the US where she was arrested on arrival in Chicago and hit with fresh charges of conspiracy to murder in a foreign country in November 2021. Since then, she has been behind bars fighting the charges but had a change of heart and decided to take a plea deal. Read More A body in a suitcase, Bonnie and Clyde fantasy and baby born in Bali prison: The chilling case of Heather Mack Heather Mack, convicted in mother’s murder in Bali, plans to plead guilty in US, attorney says

Memphis guard Ja Morant has been suspended for the first 25 games of the upcoming season for a second social media video in which he flashed a gun

President Vladimir Putin is touting Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine

Nine crew members have been arrested for people smuggling after a packed vessel sank in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, killing dozens of people, as human rights campaigners accused Greek authorities of neglecting those on board.