It looks like justice reaches its expiration date today. A South Carolina judge throws out murder charges towards the parents of their deceased 5-year old son.
Judge Roger Young rules that there is not enough sufficient evidence to keep the case alive any longer. Ultimately, the original detective on duty changed how he viewed the evidence. As a result, it muddies the strength of the case and doesn't give the parents a fair defense. Furthermore, over 20 witnesses are either dead or unable to testify for the case. After 35 years
Additionally, the judge bars prosecutors from ever charging the parents again. This way, the couple can grieve their child as best as they can without knowing the culprit. ""I feel like they did a very poor case from the beginning," says Victor Turner, father of the late Justin. "I'm glad that it's over with but now we really won't ever know too much. All I wanted was to get the person who did this."
Behind the Murder of 5-Year Old Justin Turner
In March 1989, 5-year old Justin Turner is brutally strangled and found dead in a cabinet behind the parent's home. Upon a closer examination, the investigators figure the scene looks staged. They also catch Victor and the stepmom Megan Turner in lies, causing the murder charges in the first place.
It clearly devastates Megan to this day, the accusation and how it hangs over her 30 years later. "We couldn't say anything," she tearfully explains. "The investigation when it first started everything went so wrong ... if we said anything, they tried to turn it against us."
Detectives chase smoke for the next several years, trying to find any validity in rumors and whispers sent to them. The most traction they ever received was through a tip on noted serial killer Richard Evonitz. They note how he was stationed in a Charleston US Navy ship during the time Justin was slain. Given the evidence and methodology, everything lined up with Evonitz. However, with cops closing in on him, the serial killer commits suicide and his body is cremated. As a result, they could not match DNA, leaving the parents left defenseless.
In the end, investigators were left with a cold case, theorizing what could've led to the murder. They ponder familial arguments, strange camera footage, small cloth fibers found. None of it was enough. We'll never know who truly killed the young Justin Turner.
