Jason Baldwin

Charles Jason Baldwin (born April 11, 1977) is one of the three members of what has been called the West Memphis 3 (Baldwin, Damien Echols, and Jessie Misskelley). The men were convicted in the killing of eight-year-olds Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore at Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas, on May 5, 1993. Baldwin was arrested on June 3, 1993. He was tried jointly with Echols, while Misskelley was tried separately (Misskelley confessed and implicated Baldwin and Echols). The jury convicted both defendants of murder. Baldwin received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.  On August 19, 2011, Echols, along with the two others collectively known at the West Memphis Three, were released from prison after their attorneys and the judge handling the upcoming retrial agreed to a deal. Under the terms of the Alford guilty plea, Echols and his co-defendents pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree murder while maintaining their innocence. DNA evidence failed to connect Echols or his co-defendents to the crime.