After years in prison, woman found not guilty of murder
A woman jailed for more than two and a half years on murder charges has been released from prison after she was found not guilty.
NJ.com reports that 25-year-old Zakia Merrill was released from jail on Thursday after she was found not guilty of murder and weapons offenses in the August 2013 death of a fellow Newark woman.
Merrill had been locked up at the Essex County Correctional Facility, unable to post $350,000 bail, since Sept. 3, 2013.
Two witnesses testified that they saw Merrill fighting with Ebony Martin. They said that they heard Martin say “she stabbed me.” But the witnesses never saw Merrill with a knife.
Merrill testified she did not fight anyone and attorney Jonathan Gordon says Merrill had no bruises to indicate she had been in a fight.
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