A new court hearing has been scheduled for Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three, marking the latest development in a decades-long battle to prove the innocence of the three men convicted of a 1993 triple homicide in Arkansas.
The case, titled State of Arkansas v. Damien Echols, will center on newly discovered DNA evidence that Echols and his legal team have been working for years to have tested. The hearing is scheduled for July 23 at 11 a.m. in Crittenden County, Marion, Arkansas, and will be presided over by Judge Tonya Alexander.
Echols, along with Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin, was convicted 32 years ago for the brutal murders of three 8-year-old boys—Christopher Byers, Steve Branch, and Michael Moore—in West Memphis, Arkansas. The three men, who became known as the West Memphis Three, spent more than 18 years in prison before entering Alford pleas in 2011. The plea allowed them to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to secure a conviction.
Despite their release, the trio has continued to fight to clear their names. Advances in DNA technology have raised new questions about the evidence used in their convictions, which was originally gathered at a time when forensic science was far less advanced.
A major turning point came in 2021, when attorneys uncovered a box of evidence previously believed to have been destroyed in a fire. Inside were the shoelaces used to bind the victims—potentially critical items that could be tested for DNA using modern methods.
In 2022, a formal petition was filed to have the evidence retested. The request was initially denied by lower courts but was eventually approved by the Arkansas Supreme Court more than a year ago. However, Echols has since stated that the testing has yet to take place.
“It’s been 32 years since Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore were senselessly murdered,” Echols said in a recent statement. “In 2020, then-prosecutor Scott Ellington agreed to test the evidence. It didn’t happen. Last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the testing. It hasn’t happened. We just want justice and answers for everyone involved.”
