TIP Client Eric Wright Released from Prison
10/2/2025
Eric Wright was released yesterday from prison after serving nearly 36 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Wright was arrested in October 1989 for the robbery and shooting of a convenient store clerk and her boyfriend occurring in South Memphis. Wright was convicted at a jury trial in 1990 and sentenced to 150 years. The crime was committed by two individuals, described primarily by their clothing. The perpetrators were described as young, Black men in the teens. Eric Wright was developed as a suspect after he and his brother were stopped riding a moped in a different part of Memphis a week after the crime. Fingerprints collected at the crime scene did not match Mr. Wright or his brother. His arrest and conviction relied on one cross-racial identification; no physical evidence connected Mr. Wright to the crime. Mr. Wright always denied any involvement in the crime. Over the years, Mr. Wright filed numerous motions and appeals asking for relief in his case.
In December 2024, the Tennessee Innocence Project filed a petition requesting analysis of the fingerprints collected at the crime scene using the AFIS database. The testing produced an alternative suspect, and for the first time ever, there was physical evidence of who committed the crime. This person had no connection to Mr. Wright or his brother. The photographic lineup viewed by the single eyewitness was also fatally flawed. Instead of using the photo from Mr. Wright’s traffic stop arrest, which was one week after the crime, detectives used a photograph from two and half years earlier, where Mr. Wright was wearing a unique piece of clothing (a short-sleeve floral shirt) matching the item worn by one of the perpetrators. No one else in the photographic lineup was wearing this item of clothing.
Mr. Wright’s attorney, Jessica Van Dyke stated, “Eric is a man of faith, and he did not give up that hope that one day the truth of his innocence would be heard. I am incredibly excited to see what Eric does next with his freedom.” Executive Director Jason Gichner explained how Mr. Wright’s case highlights the power of policy reforms. “At the urging of the Tennessee Innocence Project, Tennessee became one of the first states to pass a fingerprint testing law in 2021. Eric’s case is proof-positive of how we can harness new technology to get answers in older cases. We must continue to pursue policy reforms that prevent innocent people from going to prison and ensure that, if convicted, they are released.”