Google Geofence data exonorates black man after he spent 15 months in jail

McGruber writes: Keith Sylvester, an Atlanta man wrongfully accused of killing his parents who were found dead in a burning home, is now a free man after Google geofence data identified another man as the murderer.

“I had been telling them since 2018 that I was innocent,” said Sylvester. “I was held in jail for almost 15 months and I wrote just about everybody and they finally released me in March.”

Officers accused Sylvester of strangling his parents and then setting their home on fire to get rid of evidence, but there was video evidence that he was not at the scene at the time of murders. “It’s not just the video evidence from the convenient stores, it’s also his cell phone GPS data that they had, it’s also dash camera in his own car that recorded his location throughout the night. Putting all that evidence together it’s impossible to reconcile him being there at a time when he could’ve started a fire,” said Sylvester's attorney Zack Greenamyre.

In a statement District Attorney Paul Howard said they dropped the charges after their Major Felonies Unit conducted their own independent investigation. During the process they acquired a Google geofence search warrant which identified Cornelius Muckle as the culprit. The statement went on to say Muckle’s cell phone was inside the house at the time of the crimes and he has now been charged with the murders.

As for Sylvester, his attorney says that much of the information exonerating him was known at the time of his arrest. He says the officers ignored the evidence and should be held accountable.