By Ryan Shepard
In 1998, 25-year-old
Toforest Johnson was convicted of a murder he has maintained that he did not commit. Twenty-three years later, he is still working to fight his conviction, but he now has the support of former Alabama Attorney General
Bill Baxley.
Johnson's fight with the criminal justice system began in 1998 when he was charged with and convicted of murdering a sheriff's deputy in the greater Birmingham, Alabama area. With few clues and no eyewitnesses, authorities offered a cash reward for any information that could aid them in their investigation. Through their efforts, Johnson became a suspect for the murder because of an informant, who later admitted to being motivated by financial gain and changed her story multiple times.