Oct. 9, 2026
Mississippi Man Wrongfully Imprisoned For 23 Years, Tried 6 Times, Dies 6 Years After Exoneration
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RSS Feed 56-year-old Curtis Flowers has died just a few years after being released from death row and exonerated by the state of Mississippi. Flowers was tried six times by the same prosecutor and spent more than 2 decades behind bars for a quadruple murder he did not commit. It was a podcast, and ultimately the Supreme Court of the United States that set Flowers free after 23 years of protesting his innocence. We go over the astonishing details of his case and how he held onto hope that one day he’d be exonerated.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 9th, and Curtis Flowers has passed away at the age of 56. You might not know that name, but you're going to remember it after you hear about his tragic life. Tragic because of what the justice system did to this man. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. This is just a damn shame, man. I know life ain't fair, but Jesus.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: This is actually.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: When I read the details of this story, I couldn't believe it. And I knew we had to do a full story on this so folks can remember what this man lived through and how he flourished despite what was being leveled against him.
00:00:50
Speaker 2: I think for anybody who's feeling.
00:00:53
Speaker 3: up against the wall or feels just bitter because life is hard and tough, I do think sometimes getting a dose of perspective a healthy dose of perspective can help guide you and recognize that, look, this is a tough life and it's what you'd make of it, how you handle it. That's what counts because when you hear what happened to Curtis Flowers, you'll have a hard time complaining about anything. I mean, I know comparative suffering isn't necessarily something we all want to subscribe to, but I do think these stories serve as a reminder that as to how corrupt our system can be and a recognition of that. We need to acknowledge that certain people are treated differently than others, but also just the fact that we should all be grateful for all the little things, for just even waking up in your own bed.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: Sometimes that's better than most of the world.
00:01:49
Speaker 1: In the case of this guy, Robes, we've seen stories over the years of people wrongfully convicted. We've seen stories of people being on death row and getting off death row once they were exonerated. Robes, and we've seen stories of people having really long prison sentences and finally walking out of prison. Robes, all that stuff happened to this guy.
00:02:12
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Like he had it all. The bad convictions, the long prison terms, being on death row. All of this happened to this guy. But Robes, the thing that most, there was an exhaustive effort to get this guy. The prosecutor just would not let this go.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: Curtis Flowers was actually, he went through six trials.
00:02:38
Speaker 1: Same crime.
00:02:39
Speaker 3: He was actually charged and tried. six times by the same prosecutor for the same crime. And when I started looking at the story, I said to you, oh my God, this is like a real life version of Les Miserables. And you looked at me like I was crazy. But it did remind me of that. Anyone who knows Les Miserables, it's Javert going after Jean Valjean and he won't stop. He spends his whole life trying to make sure that this man who stole bread for his family was going to go to prison for the rest of his life, and he spent his entire life trying to prosecute him, trying to send him back to prison. That is what this sounds like.
00:03:22
Speaker 1: I love, this is my life, people. She uses cultural references that I have no reference to. It's hilarious.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: But that is what I was like, my God, it was like this prosecutor just had tunnel vision, and no matter what, he was going to break the law, He was going to... Oh, yeah. Prosecutorial misconduct... Is in there, yeah. is a huge part of this. And, like, laws be damned. Decency be damned. I'm going to get this guy.
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Six times. And the reason you had to get to six is because at least five got tossed or thrown or overturned for various reasons.
00:04:00
Speaker 3: So there were four... Four of the convictions were overturned, and two of the trials ended with a hung jury, a mistrial.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: So.
00:04:09
Speaker 3: Yeah. And the final one had to be overturned by the damn Supreme Court. So let's get you caught up on the crime itself, how this all began. So we know that Curtis Flowers was briefly employed by Tardy Furniture Store in the summer of 1996. I believe he briefly worked there. He was let go after he stopped showing up after only three days. And part of what This prosecutor used against him was apparently when he was fired, he might have damaged some goods. So he was a disgruntled employee who they claimed came back later and killed everybody inside. But in July of 1996, the owner of Tardy Furniture Store and three employees, one of whom was a 16-year-old kid, were all shot in the head execution style, and there was $ 300 missing. So it was a robbery turned quadruple homicide. And look, Flowers was initially questioned, but there was no arrest. He had no criminal history. A murder weapon was never found. And we should point out there was no DNA. There were no fingerprints. There was zero physical evidence linking Curtis Flowers to the murders. So he moves to Texas to go live with his sister. He has no reason not to be able to go do this. He's now just turned 27 years old. And sure enough, what was it, six months later in January of 1997, they come find him and they arrest him for this quadruple murder with literally no physical evidence, only on this theory because he had been fired. And he was a black man in Mississippi. He must be guilty.
00:05:54
Speaker 1: Well, isn't that the rule? I think it's in the Constitution there somewhere.
00:05:56
Speaker 3: Okay, note the sarcasm there. So his first trial was in 1997. It was an all-white jury. They convicted him after an hour of deliberations. That long? An hour. And he was sentenced to death. Again, Mississippi, all-white jury, no evidence against him, no physical evidence against him. they had some witnesses testify.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: One hour?
00:06:22
Speaker 2: Yep, one hour.
00:06:22
Speaker 1: Wow. Yep.
00:06:24
Speaker 3: That conviction was appealed and overturned. And as we pointed out, he was tried five more times by the same prosecutor. And by the way, he stayed behind bars during this entire time. But he's sitting on death row and he's being retried. So three more convictions this prosecutor got. All of them were overturned on appeal. All of them because of prosecutorial misconduct and jury discrimination. Then he was tried two more times. Both of them ended up in mistrials. In 2010, this prosecutor finally got a conviction to stick.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: They had a jury. I think it was all white with one black juror.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: So that's about years, right? That's 14 years after the crime?
00:07:18
Speaker 3: Yep. Finally got the sixth conviction to stick. Flowers is now back on death row. So he stayed behind bars the entire time. The only thing that changed is he was on death row. Then he was moved back into general population. Then he was back on death row.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:07:34
Speaker 3: So 2010, he's back on death row waiting for an execution date, the American public media podcast called in the dark. You gotta love this. A podcast starts to investigate his case. The innocence project has been behind him this whole time. So they start to investigate. They found, um, this investigation led to the witnesses. And there were only a few to recant their stories. They essentially admitted that they lied on the stand, that they were pressured by the prosecution, and especially there was a guy who said that Flowers confessed to the murder in jail when he was jailed, when he was first arrested. That man spoke to the podcast, put his name, put his face, and said, I flat out lied to get basically a return, a favor in return. So the only evidence they had were these witnesses. They all admitted they lied. And this podcast also turned out the long history of racial bias with this particular prosecutor. And they had evidence as well that suggested another person committed the crimes. Okay, so all of this is happening. 2019, finally, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the prosecutor and the state of Mississippi violated Curtis Flowers' constitutional rights and overturned his conviction.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: So he finally walks out what year now?
00:09:01
Speaker 2: He walks out in 2019.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: And I do think this is Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He wrote the opinion freeing this man, basically, which essentially led him to being released. There was a relentless, determined effort by this prosecutor to rid the jury of black individuals, period. It took six months later, though, before he was released from prison. And that was the first time he walked out of a prison in 23 years.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: That means, Rose, for 23 years, authorities never looked for a killer. You're telling me there's somebody that got away with a quadruple murder over the past 20 whatever years, 30 years almost now. So, no, it is 30 years. And this guy paid for it. And now this guy's dead. Rose, you're really telling me a quadruple murderer got away with this? Yes. Yes.
00:09:56
Speaker 3: Yes. And look, this is where the real, I mean I say the real tragedy. There's tragedy all throughout this. The reports areâ because, look, 60 Minutes did a big sit-down interview with him when he got out. And I justâ when he walked out of prison, that's one thing. But in 2020, the next year, the state of Mississippi, because that prosecutor finally recused himself, they put a new prosecutor in charge who looked through all the evidence and said, yeah, this isn't our guy. They officially dropped all the charges against Curtis Flowers. That's important. That's an important part of this. So he was fully exonerated in 2020. So he said, today I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for nearly 23 years. I've been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would. Look, his mom spoke on the phone with him every single day. She died in 2018 and notably before this podcast got involved. So she never got to see- That moment where a public broadcasting podcast actually was beating the drum saying this guy is innocent, which ultimately led.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: She never found that out. She never knew.
00:11:17
Speaker 3: His dad drove every two weeks to visit him on death row for two decades. He died in 2025, so he did get to see his son released. That is a beautiful thing. But imagine, he walks out of prison in 2019... In 2020, the state of Mississippi drops all charges against him. In 2021, a judge orders Mississippi to pay him $ 500, 000 for wrongful imprisonment.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: So over a 10-year period.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: So he's going to get $ 50, 000 a year for the next 10 years.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: That's in 2021.
00:11:45
Speaker 1: In 2026, he's dead.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: He got five years?
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Yep. He essentially got five years of his adult life. What was he, early 20s when the crime was committed?
00:12:02
Speaker 3: He was 26 when the crime was committed. When he was arrested and imprisoned, his daughter was three. She was raised by family members. He never.
00:12:09
Speaker 2: got to raise her or see her or be a part of her life.
00:12:13
Speaker 3: And look, we don't know how he died as of this moment, the coroner. At first I was like, wait, what happened? The report was that his body was found and his death is a, quote, ongoing investigation. That made me nervous for a second. But then his sister said that Curtis had been suffering from advanced diabetes. And so that's what the family believes likely may have happened. But it was still shocking. They weren't expecting his death. They're awaiting his autopsy results right now. But that just goes to show he sat there in a prison cell, wrongfully convicted and wrongfully, I would say, I was going to say prosecuted, but I would say persecuted by somebody who just had an agenda. It was more than just, I mean, it was personal. It was disgusting and despicable. And to think he got five years out.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Six years?
00:13:06
Speaker 1: Of life, and that's, I mean, when he got out, he walked out. He was 50. He walked out at 50.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: 50.
00:13:10
Speaker 1: That's a lot of life to live. I mean, it was almost a blessing that he was young enough.
00:13:15
Speaker 3: His father just died the year before. His father died in 2025. So, yeah, you'd think, we all think we have 20, 30, 40, maybe 50 years left.
00:13:24
Speaker 2: We don't know.
00:13:25
Speaker 3: When we come back, though, we want to read for you what the Innocence Project had to say about Curtis Flowers.
00:13:32
Speaker 2: I dare you not to cry. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ.
00:13:45
Speaker 3: We are remembering 56-year-old Curtis Flowers, a man who had his life stolen from him by the state of Mississippi by a very specific prosecutor. But that didn't mean that he didn't live. And every person who talks about Curtis Flowers talks about his kindness, his gentleness, his belief that he was going to be.
00:14:09
Speaker 2: Exonerated one day.
00:14:10
Speaker 3: That day did come.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: But too late, far too late.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: No one should spend or lose 23 years of their life in prison. And it's, I think about it like this. He didn't just spend two decades plus behind bars. He was in and out of death row. He was in and out of courtrooms. He was constantly prosecuted. And once he was exonerated, or at least the conviction was overturned, he was re-prosecuted.
00:14:35
Speaker 2: He was retried.
00:14:36
Speaker 3: I mean, can you imagine six murder trials? And not just any murder trials. You're in Mississippi. You're a black man. You've got a white prosecutor and four dead white people, right? And now you're being charged with a quadruple homicide six separate times?
00:14:53
Speaker 1: No, it was exhausting. Those 23 years were like a daily battle for this guy. That was an exhausting experience for him. And look, there is a reason, Ropes, right? Nolan Wells. There's a reason, Robes. People's minds go to this stuff because this stuff has historically happened there. Need another case in point?
00:15:24
Speaker 3: Yes, this is another example of why people, I don't want to even say jump to conclusions, but have a reason why they assume the worst.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: It's coming from somewhere.
00:15:36
Speaker 3: There is a historic reason why. It doesn't mean that that's always the case. But just to give some understanding as to why this might be the first place a black family would go to when they hear something's happened to their black son.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: It makes sense.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: Think of how many people this man, Curtis here, he's got aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, like all that family tree, everybody now, generations will hear What happened to their uncle? What happened to their granddaddy? Those stories stick. So what I'm saying, that will spread, but I'm saying all of those generations of people have stories in Mississippi of somebody in their family or close to their family going through this. That stuff runs deep, babe. Think of, is anybody in that family ever going to trust a police? Ever going to see lights flashing behind them driving down the street and not freak the hell out?
00:16:37
Speaker 3: No!
00:16:39
Speaker 1: This is where it comes from, and it's why the Nolan Wells story, it's not coming from nowhere when people just say, let's take a beat here before you just say he drowned.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: It's easy for, I'm just going to say, white people like me. I grew up thinking that all the police were good guys, and when I see police sirens, I'm like, thank God, police to the rescue. You know, there is a very different reaction to law enforcement for very historic reasons and very documentable reasons. Look, this was what I wanted to make sure everyone heard. The Innocence Project at the University of Mississippi released this statement upon hearing the news of Curtis's passing. And they made this statement in conjunction with his legal team who fought like hell for years and years and years to get him freed. Here is their statement. We all feel privileged to have called him a client. Later in the years after his release and exoneration, we felt equally honored to call him a friend. One of Curtis's favorite hymns was the traditional African-American lament, I couldn't hear nobody pray. In one of the many versions, the singer makes a request of God that if it be his will, he remove this bitter cup. Curtis's cup was bitter, but he was not. he was gentle, and he endured. For that, his name is etched into U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence about what it means to fight for a fair trial, free from racial bias in the selection of jurors. And also for that, but so many other reasons, his name is etched into our memories too, both professional and personal. We will miss him.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: Man, just the justice system. There's just so much lately here. Robes has With death and ceremony, end of life, and what all this means, and victims, and who's a real victim. There's all of this, Robes. This is awful what's happened to this man. It's awful what's happened to his family. And this $ 500, 000 BS, I know, Robes. They cap it at $ 500, 000. That he could be compensated for.
00:18:54
Speaker 3: He only got $ 50, 000 a year. And because he died, we believe, perhaps from diabetes-related, so natural causes, but that means he was only paid out for five years. So he only got half of what the state of Mississippi gave him.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: And I guess they do that to protect themselves, right? From a lawsuit. Yeah, because they probably... Who knows how many people would have a lawsuit against the state of Mississippi? In the state of Mississippi? Even that is paltry and embarrassing.
00:19:22
Speaker 3: Or just give him the damn lump sum, too.
00:19:25
Speaker 1: He should obviously have the lump sum.
00:19:26
Speaker 3: You've got to trickle it out. I would hope that the state of Mississippi posthumously offers that to his daughter, to his next of kin. To the people who supported him. I truly hope that the remaining half of what the state owes him and owes his family continues to pay that to his to his um designated next of kin he has.
00:19:49
Speaker 1: A daughter hopefully that they don't have to fight too hard for that baby but you could obviously see them pushing and saying they wouldn't want to pay it actually this is just it's another one of them robes sometimes we see them get out and it's a damn shame oh my goodness they've been in prison 30 years but then you celebrate at least they're out and moving forward and Whatever may happen, this guy just didn't get a chance to start the new life almost, babe.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: He didn't.
00:20:12
Speaker 3: He didn't. He was out at 50. He's dead at 56. It's just a reminder, everyone, to live and to, again, to open up that perspective. Why people feel a certain way, what people face that maybe you haven't, and just keep your heart open, your mind open, and certainly our heart goes out to Curtis Flowers' family. And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes.
00:20:38
Speaker 2: We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 9th, and Curtis Flowers has passed away at the age of 56. You might not know that name, but you're going to remember it after you hear about his tragic life. Tragic because of what the justice system did to this man. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. This is just a damn shame, man. I know life ain't fair, but Jesus.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: This is actually.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: When I read the details of this story, I couldn't believe it. And I knew we had to do a full story on this so folks can remember what this man lived through and how he flourished despite what was being leveled against him.
00:00:50
Speaker 2: I think for anybody who's feeling.
00:00:53
Speaker 3: up against the wall or feels just bitter because life is hard and tough, I do think sometimes getting a dose of perspective a healthy dose of perspective can help guide you and recognize that, look, this is a tough life and it's what you'd make of it, how you handle it. That's what counts because when you hear what happened to Curtis Flowers, you'll have a hard time complaining about anything. I mean, I know comparative suffering isn't necessarily something we all want to subscribe to, but I do think these stories serve as a reminder that as to how corrupt our system can be and a recognition of that. We need to acknowledge that certain people are treated differently than others, but also just the fact that we should all be grateful for all the little things, for just even waking up in your own bed.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: Sometimes that's better than most of the world.
00:01:49
Speaker 1: In the case of this guy, Robes, we've seen stories over the years of people wrongfully convicted. We've seen stories of people being on death row and getting off death row once they were exonerated. Robes, and we've seen stories of people having really long prison sentences and finally walking out of prison. Robes, all that stuff happened to this guy.
00:02:12
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Like he had it all. The bad convictions, the long prison terms, being on death row. All of this happened to this guy. But Robes, the thing that most, there was an exhaustive effort to get this guy. The prosecutor just would not let this go.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: Curtis Flowers was actually, he went through six trials.
00:02:38
Speaker 1: Same crime.
00:02:39
Speaker 3: He was actually charged and tried. six times by the same prosecutor for the same crime. And when I started looking at the story, I said to you, oh my God, this is like a real life version of Les Miserables. And you looked at me like I was crazy. But it did remind me of that. Anyone who knows Les Miserables, it's Javert going after Jean Valjean and he won't stop. He spends his whole life trying to make sure that this man who stole bread for his family was going to go to prison for the rest of his life, and he spent his entire life trying to prosecute him, trying to send him back to prison. That is what this sounds like.
00:03:22
Speaker 1: I love, this is my life, people. She uses cultural references that I have no reference to. It's hilarious.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: But that is what I was like, my God, it was like this prosecutor just had tunnel vision, and no matter what, he was going to break the law, He was going to... Oh, yeah. Prosecutorial misconduct... Is in there, yeah. is a huge part of this. And, like, laws be damned. Decency be damned. I'm going to get this guy.
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Six times. And the reason you had to get to six is because at least five got tossed or thrown or overturned for various reasons.
00:04:00
Speaker 3: So there were four... Four of the convictions were overturned, and two of the trials ended with a hung jury, a mistrial.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: So.
00:04:09
Speaker 3: Yeah. And the final one had to be overturned by the damn Supreme Court. So let's get you caught up on the crime itself, how this all began. So we know that Curtis Flowers was briefly employed by Tardy Furniture Store in the summer of 1996. I believe he briefly worked there. He was let go after he stopped showing up after only three days. And part of what This prosecutor used against him was apparently when he was fired, he might have damaged some goods. So he was a disgruntled employee who they claimed came back later and killed everybody inside. But in July of 1996, the owner of Tardy Furniture Store and three employees, one of whom was a 16-year-old kid, were all shot in the head execution style, and there was $ 300 missing. So it was a robbery turned quadruple homicide. And look, Flowers was initially questioned, but there was no arrest. He had no criminal history. A murder weapon was never found. And we should point out there was no DNA. There were no fingerprints. There was zero physical evidence linking Curtis Flowers to the murders. So he moves to Texas to go live with his sister. He has no reason not to be able to go do this. He's now just turned 27 years old. And sure enough, what was it, six months later in January of 1997, they come find him and they arrest him for this quadruple murder with literally no physical evidence, only on this theory because he had been fired. And he was a black man in Mississippi. He must be guilty.
00:05:54
Speaker 1: Well, isn't that the rule? I think it's in the Constitution there somewhere.
00:05:56
Speaker 3: Okay, note the sarcasm there. So his first trial was in 1997. It was an all-white jury. They convicted him after an hour of deliberations. That long? An hour. And he was sentenced to death. Again, Mississippi, all-white jury, no evidence against him, no physical evidence against him. they had some witnesses testify.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: One hour?
00:06:22
Speaker 2: Yep, one hour.
00:06:22
Speaker 1: Wow. Yep.
00:06:24
Speaker 3: That conviction was appealed and overturned. And as we pointed out, he was tried five more times by the same prosecutor. And by the way, he stayed behind bars during this entire time. But he's sitting on death row and he's being retried. So three more convictions this prosecutor got. All of them were overturned on appeal. All of them because of prosecutorial misconduct and jury discrimination. Then he was tried two more times. Both of them ended up in mistrials. In 2010, this prosecutor finally got a conviction to stick.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: They had a jury. I think it was all white with one black juror.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: So that's about years, right? That's 14 years after the crime?
00:07:18
Speaker 3: Yep. Finally got the sixth conviction to stick. Flowers is now back on death row. So he stayed behind bars the entire time. The only thing that changed is he was on death row. Then he was moved back into general population. Then he was back on death row.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:07:34
Speaker 3: So 2010, he's back on death row waiting for an execution date, the American public media podcast called in the dark. You gotta love this. A podcast starts to investigate his case. The innocence project has been behind him this whole time. So they start to investigate. They found, um, this investigation led to the witnesses. And there were only a few to recant their stories. They essentially admitted that they lied on the stand, that they were pressured by the prosecution, and especially there was a guy who said that Flowers confessed to the murder in jail when he was jailed, when he was first arrested. That man spoke to the podcast, put his name, put his face, and said, I flat out lied to get basically a return, a favor in return. So the only evidence they had were these witnesses. They all admitted they lied. And this podcast also turned out the long history of racial bias with this particular prosecutor. And they had evidence as well that suggested another person committed the crimes. Okay, so all of this is happening. 2019, finally, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the prosecutor and the state of Mississippi violated Curtis Flowers' constitutional rights and overturned his conviction.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: So he finally walks out what year now?
00:09:01
Speaker 2: He walks out in 2019.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: And I do think this is Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He wrote the opinion freeing this man, basically, which essentially led him to being released. There was a relentless, determined effort by this prosecutor to rid the jury of black individuals, period. It took six months later, though, before he was released from prison. And that was the first time he walked out of a prison in 23 years.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: That means, Rose, for 23 years, authorities never looked for a killer. You're telling me there's somebody that got away with a quadruple murder over the past 20 whatever years, 30 years almost now. So, no, it is 30 years. And this guy paid for it. And now this guy's dead. Rose, you're really telling me a quadruple murderer got away with this? Yes. Yes.
00:09:56
Speaker 3: Yes. And look, this is where the real, I mean I say the real tragedy. There's tragedy all throughout this. The reports areâ because, look, 60 Minutes did a big sit-down interview with him when he got out. And I justâ when he walked out of prison, that's one thing. But in 2020, the next year, the state of Mississippi, because that prosecutor finally recused himself, they put a new prosecutor in charge who looked through all the evidence and said, yeah, this isn't our guy. They officially dropped all the charges against Curtis Flowers. That's important. That's an important part of this. So he was fully exonerated in 2020. So he said, today I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for nearly 23 years. I've been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would. Look, his mom spoke on the phone with him every single day. She died in 2018 and notably before this podcast got involved. So she never got to see- That moment where a public broadcasting podcast actually was beating the drum saying this guy is innocent, which ultimately led.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: She never found that out. She never knew.
00:11:17
Speaker 3: His dad drove every two weeks to visit him on death row for two decades. He died in 2025, so he did get to see his son released. That is a beautiful thing. But imagine, he walks out of prison in 2019... In 2020, the state of Mississippi drops all charges against him. In 2021, a judge orders Mississippi to pay him $ 500, 000 for wrongful imprisonment.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: So over a 10-year period.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: So he's going to get $ 50, 000 a year for the next 10 years.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: That's in 2021.
00:11:45
Speaker 1: In 2026, he's dead.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: He got five years?
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Yep. He essentially got five years of his adult life. What was he, early 20s when the crime was committed?
00:12:02
Speaker 3: He was 26 when the crime was committed. When he was arrested and imprisoned, his daughter was three. She was raised by family members. He never.
00:12:09
Speaker 2: got to raise her or see her or be a part of her life.
00:12:13
Speaker 3: And look, we don't know how he died as of this moment, the coroner. At first I was like, wait, what happened? The report was that his body was found and his death is a, quote, ongoing investigation. That made me nervous for a second. But then his sister said that Curtis had been suffering from advanced diabetes. And so that's what the family believes likely may have happened. But it was still shocking. They weren't expecting his death. They're awaiting his autopsy results right now. But that just goes to show he sat there in a prison cell, wrongfully convicted and wrongfully, I would say, I was going to say prosecuted, but I would say persecuted by somebody who just had an agenda. It was more than just, I mean, it was personal. It was disgusting and despicable. And to think he got five years out.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Six years?
00:13:06
Speaker 1: Of life, and that's, I mean, when he got out, he walked out. He was 50. He walked out at 50.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: 50.
00:13:10
Speaker 1: That's a lot of life to live. I mean, it was almost a blessing that he was young enough.
00:13:15
Speaker 3: His father just died the year before. His father died in 2025. So, yeah, you'd think, we all think we have 20, 30, 40, maybe 50 years left.
00:13:24
Speaker 2: We don't know.
00:13:25
Speaker 3: When we come back, though, we want to read for you what the Innocence Project had to say about Curtis Flowers.
00:13:32
Speaker 2: I dare you not to cry. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ.
00:13:45
Speaker 3: We are remembering 56-year-old Curtis Flowers, a man who had his life stolen from him by the state of Mississippi by a very specific prosecutor. But that didn't mean that he didn't live. And every person who talks about Curtis Flowers talks about his kindness, his gentleness, his belief that he was going to be.
00:14:09
Speaker 2: Exonerated one day.
00:14:10
Speaker 3: That day did come.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: But too late, far too late.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: No one should spend or lose 23 years of their life in prison. And it's, I think about it like this. He didn't just spend two decades plus behind bars. He was in and out of death row. He was in and out of courtrooms. He was constantly prosecuted. And once he was exonerated, or at least the conviction was overturned, he was re-prosecuted.
00:14:35
Speaker 2: He was retried.
00:14:36
Speaker 3: I mean, can you imagine six murder trials? And not just any murder trials. You're in Mississippi. You're a black man. You've got a white prosecutor and four dead white people, right? And now you're being charged with a quadruple homicide six separate times?
00:14:53
Speaker 1: No, it was exhausting. Those 23 years were like a daily battle for this guy. That was an exhausting experience for him. And look, there is a reason, Ropes, right? Nolan Wells. There's a reason, Robes. People's minds go to this stuff because this stuff has historically happened there. Need another case in point?
00:15:24
Speaker 3: Yes, this is another example of why people, I don't want to even say jump to conclusions, but have a reason why they assume the worst.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: It's coming from somewhere.
00:15:36
Speaker 3: There is a historic reason why. It doesn't mean that that's always the case. But just to give some understanding as to why this might be the first place a black family would go to when they hear something's happened to their black son.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: It makes sense.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: Think of how many people this man, Curtis here, he's got aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, like all that family tree, everybody now, generations will hear What happened to their uncle? What happened to their granddaddy? Those stories stick. So what I'm saying, that will spread, but I'm saying all of those generations of people have stories in Mississippi of somebody in their family or close to their family going through this. That stuff runs deep, babe. Think of, is anybody in that family ever going to trust a police? Ever going to see lights flashing behind them driving down the street and not freak the hell out?
00:16:37
Speaker 3: No!
00:16:39
Speaker 1: This is where it comes from, and it's why the Nolan Wells story, it's not coming from nowhere when people just say, let's take a beat here before you just say he drowned.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: It's easy for, I'm just going to say, white people like me. I grew up thinking that all the police were good guys, and when I see police sirens, I'm like, thank God, police to the rescue. You know, there is a very different reaction to law enforcement for very historic reasons and very documentable reasons. Look, this was what I wanted to make sure everyone heard. The Innocence Project at the University of Mississippi released this statement upon hearing the news of Curtis's passing. And they made this statement in conjunction with his legal team who fought like hell for years and years and years to get him freed. Here is their statement. We all feel privileged to have called him a client. Later in the years after his release and exoneration, we felt equally honored to call him a friend. One of Curtis's favorite hymns was the traditional African-American lament, I couldn't hear nobody pray. In one of the many versions, the singer makes a request of God that if it be his will, he remove this bitter cup. Curtis's cup was bitter, but he was not. he was gentle, and he endured. For that, his name is etched into U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence about what it means to fight for a fair trial, free from racial bias in the selection of jurors. And also for that, but so many other reasons, his name is etched into our memories too, both professional and personal. We will miss him.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: Man, just the justice system. There's just so much lately here. Robes has With death and ceremony, end of life, and what all this means, and victims, and who's a real victim. There's all of this, Robes. This is awful what's happened to this man. It's awful what's happened to his family. And this $ 500, 000 BS, I know, Robes. They cap it at $ 500, 000. That he could be compensated for.
00:18:54
Speaker 3: He only got $ 50, 000 a year. And because he died, we believe, perhaps from diabetes-related, so natural causes, but that means he was only paid out for five years. So he only got half of what the state of Mississippi gave him.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: And I guess they do that to protect themselves, right? From a lawsuit. Yeah, because they probably... Who knows how many people would have a lawsuit against the state of Mississippi? In the state of Mississippi? Even that is paltry and embarrassing.
00:19:22
Speaker 3: Or just give him the damn lump sum, too.
00:19:25
Speaker 1: He should obviously have the lump sum.
00:19:26
Speaker 3: You've got to trickle it out. I would hope that the state of Mississippi posthumously offers that to his daughter, to his next of kin. To the people who supported him. I truly hope that the remaining half of what the state owes him and owes his family continues to pay that to his to his um designated next of kin he has.
00:19:49
Speaker 1: A daughter hopefully that they don't have to fight too hard for that baby but you could obviously see them pushing and saying they wouldn't want to pay it actually this is just it's another one of them robes sometimes we see them get out and it's a damn shame oh my goodness they've been in prison 30 years but then you celebrate at least they're out and moving forward and Whatever may happen, this guy just didn't get a chance to start the new life almost, babe.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: He didn't.
00:20:12
Speaker 3: He didn't. He was out at 50. He's dead at 56. It's just a reminder, everyone, to live and to, again, to open up that perspective. Why people feel a certain way, what people face that maybe you haven't, and just keep your heart open, your mind open, and certainly our heart goes out to Curtis Flowers' family. And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes.
00:20:38
Speaker 2: We'll talk soon.