RICHMOND, Va. β Richmond City Council will hold a special meeting Monday to take steps to right a decades-old wrong with a payment worth millions of dollars.
Marvin Grimm pleaded guilty to the 1975 murder of three-year-old Christopher Harper in Richmond and was sentenced to life in prison plus ten years.
Grimm, who was 20 at the time, lived across from Harper's family and was coerced into confessing after hours of interrogation.
"At the station, police spent nearly 10 hours trying to get me to confess. I was not allowed to eat anything, drink anything, or call my wife to let her know I was okay. They were loudly insistent. They threatened me with the death penalty," Grimm told state lawmakers at a hearing earlier this year.
Grimm said he then accepted a plea deal because he was told he could face the death penalty if convicted at trial.
"I was afraid of dying. Nobody told me that the death penalty did not apply to the crime I was accused of, and I was told the blood testing results were inconclusive, even though, as I learned later, they proved that I didn't commit the crime," Grimm said.
Grimm says he pushed for years to get exonerated and continued that fight even after getting parole in 2020.
"I missed out on all the things that most folks take for granted. Weddings, birthdays, family trips, and holidays with family," Grimm said. "My mother stood beside me and made noise trying to get to courts and the officials to see the truth. During it all, my mother and sisters never stopped believing in me. They visited me in prison. Mom wrote letters to officials. She also came to the parole board arguing my case approximately 20 times."
Grimm was eventually exonerated in 2024 by DNA evidence. That evidence was handled by a since-deceased state forensic scientist whose work has come under scrutiny after a media investigation questioned her quality and accuracy.
Virginia agreed to pay Grimm $5.8-million during this past General Assembly session, but also passed a law to require localities to match the payment in cases of official misconduct.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent the city a letter in late July that said he would withhold state funding if they did not pay.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said they were trying to find the appropriate funding source. When he announced they had found it, he added in a statement: "While nothing can restore the decades of life Mr. Grimm lost, we are committed to addressing this injustice."
City officials said this meeting is just to introduce the legislation. The actual vote will be taken at a meeting early next month.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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