The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the US<\/p>\n
A jury has found an Alabama man not guilty of killing an 11-year girl more than 35 years ago. <\/p>\n
The victim, Melissa Ann Tremblay, had accompanied her mother and her mother\u2019s boyfriend to a Lawrence social club not far from the railyard and went outside to play while the adults stayed inside, authorities said last year. <\/p>\n
She was reported missing later that night.<\/p>\n
The case came down to whether the jury believed DNA found under Ann Tremblay\u2019s fingernails was from Marvin \u201cSkip\u201d McClendon Jr. After telling a judge Monday they were deadlocked, the jury returned on Tuesday and found McClendon not guilty on the sixth day of deliberations. <\/p>\n
\u201cMr. McClendon was greatly relieved by the verdict,\u201d McClendon\u2019s lawyer, Henry Fasoldt, told The Associated Press, adding that he would return home to Alabama after being held for two-and-a-half years. “We appreciate the jury\u2019s careful and thoughtful deliberations.”<\/p>\n
Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said he \u201cdisappointed with the verdict\u201d but praised the efforts of prosecutors and law enforcement officers in the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize the work and dedication of the jury during their long deliberations in this case,” Tucker said. “My thoughts are with the family of Melissa Ann Tremblay, who have suffered greatly due to the crime that took her life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, a judge declared a mistrial in McClendon\u2019s prosecution after a jury deadlock. The body of the Salem, New Hampshire, girl was found in a Lawrence, Massachusetts, trainyard on Sept. 12, 1988, a day after she was reported missing.<\/p>\n
Marvin C. McClendon Jr. appears in Essex Superior CourtThe girl\u2019s mother, Janet Tremblay, died in 2015 at age 70, according to her obituary. But surviving relatives have been attending court to observe the latest trial.<\/p>\n
After initially ruling out several suspects, including two drug addicts, early on, authorities turned their attention to McClendon.<\/p>\n
He was arrested at his Alabama home in 2022 based in part on DNA evidence.<\/p>\n
Essex County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick told the jury that comments McClendon made during his arrest showed he knew details of the crime and that he was \u201cfixated on the fact that she was beaten, ladies and gentlemen, because he knew that she wasn\u2019t just stabbed that day, that was she was beaten.\u201d<\/p>\n
A left-handed person like McClendon stabbed Tremblay, Strasnick said. She told jurors that the carpenter and former Massachusetts corrections officer was familiar with Lawrence, having frequented bars and strip clubs in the city. He also lived less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) away at the time of the killing.<\/p>\n
Strasnick told the jury that the DNA evidence taken from under Tremblay\u2019s fingernails excludes 99.8% of the male population.<\/p>\n
But Fasoldt said there was no proof the DNA came from under Tremblay\u2019s fingernails or was from McClendon. <\/p>\n
Fasoldt also said evidence shows that a right-handed person, rather than a left-handed person, could have stabbed Tremblay.<\/p>\n
He also argued that McClendon had \u201cno meaningful connection\u201d to Lawrence \u2014 other than that he lived 16 miles (25 kilometers) away in Chelmsford. He moved to Alabama in 2002 to a plot of land his family owned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the US A jury has found an Alabama man not guilty of killing an 11-year girl more than 35 years ago. The victim, Melissa Ann Tremblay, had accompanied her mother and her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n