Ricky Webb served 46 years in prison, all of them unjust
Ricky Webb was 22 when he was found guilty of a murder and rape in Gibson, Tennessee. He spent 45 years and 11 months in prison. (Jordan Johnson/Tennessee Innocence Project)
A thick, clean scar runs the length of Ricky Webb’s torso, a silent, permanent reminder of the injustices he suffered at the hand of the State of Tennessee.
He spent 45 years and 11 months in its prisons for a murder and rape he did not commit, the longest-serving exoneree on record in state history, the fourth-longest in the nation.
Counting his time in jail before his trial, Webb was incarcerated nearly 47 years.
“I didn’t understand why it seemed like nobody wanted to hear the truth,” Webb, 70, said early this month, retelling the details of nearly five decades that are so fresh in his memory, he barely pauses as he recounts them.
“I kept looking up at the judge — and thinking, ‘In God we trust,’” he said.
Webb, now back living in Humboldt, Tennessee, was released on bond in early October and finally was set free several weeks later after lawyers at the Tennessee Innocence Project spent more than two years proving he was wrongly convicted.
Among other things, it found that the TBI coerced a key witness to change her story, telling her she would lose her children if she did not cooperate, said Connor Webber, 29, lead attorney in the exoneration,
After a three-day trial in Gibson County in 1978, an all-white jury found Webb guilty of the rape and murder of Charlotte Webb, a 29-year-old wife and mother found shot to death in the bedroom of her family’s home in Gibson, about 100 miles northeast of Memphis.
Connor Webber (left) and Ricky Webb pose for a portrait at the Tennessee Innocence Project's Midtown office Dec. 6, 2024. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
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Ricky Webb Connor Webber The Tennessee Innocence Project Judge Roy Morgan Jr. Autumn Woods Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Jane Roberts
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
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