“Leave all your hope, family, and dreams behind.” That’s the banner Darryl Burton saw when he first walked into Missouri State Penitentiary—infamously known as the “bloodiest 47 acres in America.” He was 22. He was innocent.
In this episode of Back in America, Darryl shares his extraordinary story: how a false accusation, coached jailhouse informants, and prosecutorial misconduct stole nearly 25 years of his life. With no DNA, no weapon, no motive—and no justice—Darryl was sentenced to life without parole for a crime he didn’t commit.
Thanks to the relentless efforts of Princeton, NJ, based Centurion, the pioneering innocence organization, Darryl was finally exonerated. But his story didn’t end there.
He founded Miracle of Innocence, a nonprofit helping other wrongfully convicted individuals reclaim their lives—legally, emotionally, and spiritually. As Darryl says, “It’s a miracle to get out of prison. Now, we work to create more miracles.”
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Books that Inspired Darryl in Prison