The three confessions contradicted each other on the basic facts of the case. On October 31, after more than 21 hours in police custody, Shainne Sharp also signed a handwritten statement implicating himself and the other four teenagers in the crime. Later that day, Robert Taylor signed a handwritten statement, again outside the presence of his parents or counsel, implicating himself and the other four teenagers in the crime. After more than five hours in police custody, where he was interrogated outside the presence of his parents or counsel, Veal signed a handwritten statement, implicating himself, Jonathan Barr, 15, Robert Taylor, 15, Shainne Sharp, 17, and James Harden, 17, in the gang rape and murder of Matthews. On October 29, 1992, police brought Veal, 15, in for questioning.

At the time of the crime, Barr, Veal, and Taylor were 14 years old. On that date, a police report indicated that Keno Barnes, 15, allegedly informed the police that Jonathan Barr had told him that when he last saw Cateresa, she was getting into a car occupied by Robert Lee Veal and Robert Taylor. The police made no arrests and seemingly had no leads in the case for over 10 months, until October 20, 1992. Seminal fluid was recovered from the vaginal and rectal swab of the victim. A pair of white panties was found around her right ankle, and her jeans were draped across her chest. She was also an obvious victim of sexual assault, as her body was naked from the waist down. She had been shot in the mouth at close range with a. In the afternoon of November 19, 1991, 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews left her great-grandmother’s house in Dixmoor, Illinois, and was not seen again until December 8, 1991, when her body was discovered on a well-worn path running along I-57 as it passes through Dixmoor.

Jame harden