In 1984, half-brothers Henry McCollum, 19, and Leon Brown, 15, were wrongfully convicted for the brutal rape and murder of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie in Red Springs, North Carolina. Both men, who had intellectual disabilities, were coerced into signing false confessions after hours of intense interrogation. Despite evidence pointing to another suspect, Roscoe Artis, a known serial offender, the brothers were sentenced—McCollum to death and Brown to life imprisonment. After spending 31 years behind bars, DNA evidence in 2014 confirmed their innocence, directly implicating Artis in the crime. McCollum and Brown were exonerated and later awarded $75 million in compensation, marking one of the most tragic yet extraordinary journeys toward justice in U.S. history.
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