Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Glynn Simmons, Exonerated After 48 Years in Prison, Dies Weeks Shy of 73

Glynn Simmons, who spent 48 years in an Oklahoma prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murder and was later declared actually innocent, has died, family and friends confirmed to The Oklahoman. He died from complications of cancer that he had been fighting since his release from prison, and he was a couple of weeks shy of turning 73. KFOR in Oklahoma City also reported his death on Wednesday. He is believed to have served the longest term stemming from a wrongful conviction in United States history, The Oklahoman reported.

Simmons had been convicted of the fatal 1974 shooting of clerk Carolyn Sue Rogers during an Edmond liquor store robbery. He had always denied any involvement in the killing, which occurred when he was 21, The Oklahoman reported. In December 1974, two men robbed a liquor store in Edmond, Oklahoma. They shot and killed Rogers and shot a customer, Belinda Brown, in the head. Brown survived, according to the Norwood Law Firm, which represented Simmons.

Prosecutors in Oklahoma City hinged their case almost entirely on Brown's recollections, which were based on seeing the two men in the liquor store for just two to three seconds, the firm said. There was no physical evidence in the case: investigators in Edmond never recovered a gun, DNA, fingerprints, footprints, hair fibers or surveillance video, according to the firm. Simmons and Don Roberts were convicted in 1975 and sentenced to death. The sentence was reduced in 1977 to life in prison. Roberts was released on parole in 2008.

Simmons said he was in his hometown of Harvey, Louisiana, for the holidays when the robbery happened, and more than a dozen people gave sworn testimony that he was still in Louisiana at the time, the firm said. A police report that raised questions about whether the eyewitness had identified Simmons and Roberts in a lineup, or two other men, was not made available to Simmons for his 1975 trial, according to the firm and court proceedings reported by the Associated Press.

In July 2023, Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo ordered a new trial after District Attorney Vicki Behenna said prosecutors had failed to turn over evidence in the case, including that police report, the Associated Press reported. Simmons was released from prison at the age of 70 after 48 years. In September 2023, Behenna said there was no longer any physical evidence in the case and she would not retry him, and Palumbo dismissed the charges. In December 2023, Palumbo found by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Simmons was convicted and imprisoned was not committed by him, formally declaring him innocent. The National Registry of Exonerations lists him as the longest-serving exonerated man in recorded United States history, according to the firm.

After his release, Simmons was undergoing treatment for cancer that was detected after he left prison, and his attorney Joe Norwood said in 2023 that he was living on donations from a GoFundMe while compensation was still in the future, the Associated Press reported. In August 2024, the Associated Press reported that the city of Edmond agreed to pay $7.15 million to Simmons. He also received $175,000 from the state of Oklahoma, the maximum amount allowed for wrongful convictions under state law, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

After his exoneration, Simmons summed up the lesson of his case in words carried by several outlets at the time: "It's a lesson in resilience and tenacity. Don't let nobody tell you that it can't happen, because it really can."