Christopher Abernathy Case

“The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.” The mission of the Innocence Project is to exonerate people who they believe don’t belong in jail and aren’t guilty of the crime they were convicted for. People write to them asking for them to investigate on difference cases and they will evaluate potential cases by gathering information about each case application and see if they can determine whether DNA testing can be conducted.

Christopher Abernathy was one of the many people who they successfully exonerated. Christopher was convicted for murder, rape, and robbery. The reported crime date was in the year 1984 and he was convicted in 1987.

On October 3, 1984, a 15 year old girl, Kristina Hickey was walking on her way home from a choir performance in Park Forest, Illinois. Two days later, her body was found behind a mall. Police say that she has been raped and stabbed. About a year later on November 30, 1985, the police brought in an 18 year old boy named Christopher Abernathy for an interrogation. An acquaintance of him named, Allan Dennis told the police

He said when she refused, he attempted to rape her and then accidentally stabber her with a pocketknife that he had in his hand. Abernathy recanted the confession and said he signed the statement because the police told him that he could go home to his mother if he did so. Abernathy went to trail in Cook County Circuit Court in January 1987. The evidence against him was the testimony of Dennis. There was no forensic or physical evidence that connected Abernathy to the crime. Also, Presumptive tests were negative for the presence of