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“Police informants have a reputation for being very unreliable. They have a high motive to lie a lot of times because they are either trying to make money or get out from under a charge, so it is to their benefit to provide detectives with the information that they want to hear.”

-Detective Jim Trainum


The Case Against Billy


#2- False Testimony


In 2018, Benny Lyles — the only person who told police that Billy was at the crime scene — admitted that he had fabricated his entire statement due to bad blood had with Billy. In an interview with Lyles, he stated  that his need for money and a fight among their highschool cliques was what fueled his resentment and ultimately drove his false testimony. 




Billy’s public defender allowed the state’s eyewitness to intimidate him into accepting defeat in the form of a plea deal. If Billy’s lawyer had properly investigated the crime, he would have discredited the state’s “eyewitness” for having hostility for Billy and being on probation himself.