The accusers

Shortly after the murder of Lisa Kindred, Detroit Police had two witnesses who fingered Justly Johnson and Kendrick Scott as the killers. But their stories were not consistent. They even disagreed on which of the two men actually pulled the trigger.

Police picked up Antonio Burnette within hours of the Kindred murder. They found the 16-year-old sleeping in a car near the murder scene, and they had leverage on him. Burnette was a juvenile delinquent and there was a court order to take him into custody.

Homicide investigators did just that. According to Wayne County Juvenile Court records, Burnette was held for almost a year before he was released to the custody of his father. By then, he had already testified in the trial that convicted Justly Johnson and Kendrick Scott’s trial was about eight weeks away.

Burnette testified, at the trials of both defendants, that he heard Justly Johnson talking about “hitting a lick” (committing a robbery) before the Kindred murder and that Johnson later told him that co-defendant, Kendrick Scott, had shot a woman. Burnette also testified that he had seen Johnson and Scott putting guns in their girlfriends’ cars on the morning of the shooting.

Burnette contradicted his statements in court testimony. After the convictions, he signed a sworn affidavit claiming he lied in his statement to police because they threatened to send him to prison for murder.

Burnette testified that on the night of the murder he was drinking heavily and smoking majruana.

Burnette was later convicted of carjacking and was paroled from prison on March 10, 2010.

burnettestatment

The second witness, Raymond Jackson, actually gave two statements to police. First, he claimed to know nothing about the murder. Hours later, after Antonio Burnette had signed a statement, Jackson was picked up again and signed a statement implicating Justly Johnson and Kendrick Scott.

Jackson said Justly Johnson had stopped by his house and told him that he “hit a lick last night, messed up and had to shoot.”

Jackson also made conflicting statements under oath in court. He testified that he had a mental condition and that his use of drugs, legal and illegal, along with alcohol, impaired his ability to deal with reality. Along with prescription drugs, Jackson said he had consumed three forty-ounce beers and smoked $30 dollars worth of marijuana on the night of the murder.

According to sworn affidavits, Jackson later told two people, including his cousin that he also lied to police because they threatened him.

Raymond Jackson was murdered in 2008. Someone walked into his house, shot him in the back and walked out.Read both of Raymond Jackson’s statements to police and sworn affidavits from witnesses who claim Jackson admitted lying to police...
Jackson Statement