A man who spent more than 25 years in prison for a 1997 murder in Boston was released on Tuesday while a judge considers whether or not to overturn his conviction.
Ricky “Fuquan” McGee – who has always maintained his innocence – was convicted in 1998 for the shooting death of Geta Yalew, a convenience store clerk who was killed during a robbery at Christy’s Market in the Fenway.
McGee was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and spent 28 years behind bars. On Tuesday, Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Michael Ricciuti released McGee after prosecutors filed a motion saying a combination of errors created “a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice” that warranted a new trial.
McGee walked out of the court house surrounded by family and supporters including members of the Harriet Tubman Project, founded by incarcerated men fighting wrongful conviction. He told supporters he was happy for his mother who spent decades talking to him on the phone and his nieces who’d never seen him out of prison. He also thanked his partner Jacqueline Fonseca, who works with the New England Innocence Project.
McGee spent many of his prison years studying law and working for his exoneration as well as others he believes were wrongly convicted.
“Just know that there’s countless brothers, man, that are going through tribulations in there and they’ll never be forgotten,” McGee said. “I’m out, but I’m out to get more out.”
McGee’s release comes after he filed a motion in 2024 alleging witness tampering among other issues. He said the prosecution’s main witness had been shielded from prosecution for bank fraud in exchange for her testimony. He also alleged that Boston police officers had coerced a 15-year-old friend into testifying against him, and that police had ignored a possible alternative suspect.
Yalew was shot in the back of the head around 2:30 in the morning, and less than $100 was stolen from the store — including food stamps and coins, court records show. At the time there was no working surveillance camera.
McGee’s defense lawyer, Jeffrey Harris said it’s too early to celebrate, because the judge still has to make a final decision about whether to overturn the conviction and grant him a new trial. He said the state’s admission to move for a new trial was “less and less unusual, but still extremely unusual.”
“It was weak, and a lot of it was just faulty, and the person was just making things up,” Harris said, referring to the testimony of the state’s key witness.
Matthew Kamholtz, McGee’s original trial counsel, said the prosecutors’ motion, filed earlier this month, showed just how flawed the case was. “It’s a powerful indication of the depth of the due process violation here,” he said.
McGee was released to his mother’s home in Dorchester under probation conditions including a curfew. He will return to Suffolk County Superior Court on Oct. 27 for another hearing in front of Judge Ricciuti.
After his release, his jubilant mother Miriam Merriman said she felt like she’d just given birth to him a second time, but was focused on helping him readjust to life outside prison.
“We’re gonna take one day at a time, that’s all I can say — just one day at a time,’’ she said. “Let him get used to his surroundings, just one day at a time.”
