State prosecutors will decide next week whether to appeal a Cook County judge’s decision to throw out a carjacking conviction tied to a case involving an exonerated Chicago man.
Antonio McDowell was exonerated after spending nearly 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. In 1997, he was convicted of killing a man and stealing a getaway car from a woman nearby. After he was falsely accused and identified as the suspect, McDowell was convicted of first-degree murder and carjacking. He was sentenced to 103 years in prison but was released in 2020 amid COVID-19 health concerns.
While McDowell’s murder conviction was thrown out when he was exonerated, prosecutors insisted the carjacking conviction remain on his record, although the charge was tied to the murder. But earlier this month, Cook County Judge Kuriakos-Ciesil threw out that conviction. On Monday, June 2, prosecutors will decide whether to drop the carjacking charge or retry McDowell.
McDowell is represented by attorneys Lyla Wasz-Piper and Josh Tepfer of The Exoneration Project, as well as Anand Swaminathan of the civil rights law firm Loevy + Loevy.
McDowell’s lawyers said he was the 51st exonerated man who was framed by disgraced Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara.
According to McDowell’s attorneys, in July 1997, McDowell walked into the Area 5 police station as the victim of a shooting. McDowell never left. While at the station, Guevara allegedly tried to pressure McDowell into falsely identifying Guevara’s chosen suspect in an unrelated murder case. When McDowell refused, he went from being a shooting victim to being framed as the suspect in the murder of a man he did not know.
That man was Mario Castro. McDowell’s lawyers said Castro was shot and killed in his backyard. About 30 minutes later, a woman had her car stolen at gunpoint in a nearby alley. Police believed the two crimes were connected and that the shooter stole the vehicle to use as a getaway car. The case had no leads or progress for seven months, according to McDowell’s legal team.
But in July 1997, McDowell was charged with Castro’s murder. His lawyers said there was no evidence or witness testimony identifying McDowell as a suspect. Consistent with Guevara’s now-established practice of manipulating lineups and pressuring witnesses into false identifications, McDowell was wrongfully charged.
Within hours, Guevara had closed an otherwise cold case by accusing McDowell of murder and carjacking. McDowell was eventually convicted and sentenced to 103 years in prison.
He was released in 2020 after Governor J.B. Pritzker granted his clemency petition due to concerns about McDowell’s health during the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, McDowell had been a student in Northwestern University’s Prison Education Program, a degree-earning initiative within the prison. His petition was supported by nearly a dozen letters from Northwestern professors and students.
Since his release, McDowell has been steadily employed and is saving money to complete his degree.
Since August 2022, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office under Kim Foxx has stopped disputing Guevara’s misconduct, which includes a well-documented pattern of coercing eyewitnesses, manipulating alibi statements, and fabricating evidence.
However, in 2023, McDowell’s lawyers said Foxx’s office requested a DNA sample from McDowell to compare against DNA found on the murder victim’s clothing. McDowell “enthusiastically” agreed and voluntarily submitted the sample. The DNA test excluded him as the source.
Despite the DNA results, the State dropped the murder charges but refused to vacate the carjacking conviction—even though both crimes were committed by the same person and tried together.
Earlier this month, following a day-long evidentiary hearing, Judge Kuriakos-Ciesil issued a ruling vacating the carjacking conviction. She cited McDowell’s account of going from victim to suspect and Guevara’s undeniable history of misconduct.
On June 2, the State will decide whether to finally drop the carjacking charge or retry McDowell.
Antonio McDowell is a 2021 alumnus of Growing Home’s Workforce Development Program, a paid 12-week job training initiative in Englewood that focuses on job readiness and success through a comprehensive and supportive curriculum.
McDowell now works in the warehouse and logistics industry while also pursuing creative projects. He writes poetry and is developing his “Build Your Own World” brand. He has begun writing a memoir and is producing his podcast, “Voices from Within,” which invites currently incarcerated individuals to share their stories.