A Washington County judge suspended the remaining prison sentence of a Greenville man convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in 2002, after more than 100 pieces of biological evidence in the case, including a sexual assault kit and fingernail scrapings, could not be located when officials went to retrieve them for modern DNA testing. King Young Brown Jr. had served nearly 25 years of a 50-year sentence; instead of completing the rest behind bars, he will serve five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender once he is out. His exact release date was not immediately available.
Judge Richard A. Smith handed down the decision at a sentencing hearing Monday in Washington County Circuit Court, according to Mississippi Today. Brown was 15 when he was charged with raping and killing Robernisha Webster, known to her family as Boo Boo, who was buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Greenville. He was convicted after three trials; Mississippi Today reported the jury deliberated 13 hours before reaching its verdict, and the third jury deliberated over 13 hours before convicting Brown of rape and manslaughter in November 2005. Brown has maintained that he did not commit the crime.
Evidence Vanishes Before It Could Be Retested
The case resurfaced after Smith ordered the physical evidence shipped to a Virginia laboratory in September 2025 for modern DNA testing — evidence that had reportedly still been located as recently as 2023. When officials went to retrieve it, the circuit clerk's office could not find any of the more than 100 specimens in the courthouse, the outlet reported. Brown's attorneys argued the missing material might have proved his innocence and that the charges should be dismissed and his sentence vacated given its loss.
Smith declined to go that far, ruling he would not dismiss the charges in the absence of exonerating evidence — a decision Brown's attorneys argued denied him due process. The defense had also contended that the original case against Brown rested on microscopic hair comparison, a technique Mississippi Today reported has since been deemed pseudoscience under U.S. Department of Justice guidance. A 1999 Justice Department task force found flaws in 96% of 150 cases that relied on microscopic hair analysis, according to News From The States, and the FBI has said examiner testimony contained erroneous statements in at least 90% of the trial transcripts it reviewed as part of its own hair-comparison analysis, per the FBI.
Conflicting Accounts Over Who Handled the Evidence
Court filings offer competing versions of what happened to the missing specimens. An unsigned statement from the district attorney's office denied an allegation that Richardson and Frye visited the evidence room.
Smith sealed evidence and characterized some testimony as hearsay and speculation.
News Outlet Pushes to Unseal the Record
Mississippi Today has filed to intervene in the case and is seeking to unseal the court filings, challenging Smith's decision to keep the record closed.
Per affidavits described in the reporting, both Lakes and Deputy Clerk Latanya Watson have suggested Richardson and Frye visited the evidence room following a hearing on July 28, 2026.
A Sister Calls the Outcome a Slap in the Face
Carson expressed concern that no one was being held accountable.
Brown's mother, Gloria Brown, discussed her son's incarceration. While incarcerated, Brown took college courses through Mississippi Valley State University toward a business administration degree and completed certifications in welding and carpentry, according to Mississippi Today's reporting.
