What happened to Keith?

Keith LaMar is a death row prisoner who was wrongfully convicted in the State of Ohio. On November 16, 2023, the State intends to execute him, even though he has maintained his innocence for nearly three decades, all while being held in indefinite solitary confinement.

In the aftermath of the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising, the State of Ohio was under public pressure to clean up a multi-million dollar mess, one that included the death of a prison guard and multiple prisoners. After State investigators trampled the crime scene and contaminated any and all potential evidence, they paid jailhouse informants to create a false narrative that implicated Keith, even though he wasn’t affiliated with any of the groups involved in the riot. To bolster their claim, the State withheld evidence that would have proven his innocence (including the confession of an actual perpetrator who admitted to murdering one of Keith’s alleged victims). His trial was staged in a remote Ohio community known to be highly racist. Any Black prospective jurors were promptly dismissed by the Prosecution, leaving Keith’s fate in the hands of an all-White jury, who swiftly sentenced him to death. Learn more...​