Correction, October 11, 2026: An earlier version of this post said the newly named suspect "was never charged or convicted in this killing." That was wrong. Sarah Lucas, also identified as Sarah Lucas Riedel, was charged with facilitation of first-degree murder and perjury in the 2007 death of Danny Harris and was extradited from Oklahoma to Memphis in February 2026, according to FOX13. She died in Shelby County Sheriff's Office custody before her arraignment, and District Attorney Steve Mulroy's office said she will not be prosecuted, Action News 5 reported February 18, 2026. She was never tried or convicted and is presumed innocent. The post also said the original prosecution produced the conviction in 2007. Danny Harris was killed in 2007; Hayes was convicted in 2010, according to FOX13.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Andrew Hayes returned to Shelby County court on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, and this time the prosecution was not on the other side. Prosecutors joined the defense request to clear his sentence in the 2007 Cordova murder case, Action News 5 reported, and new evidence was presented in the case the same day, per WREG.
The hearing caps a documented reversal that has been building all year. A filing detailed on January 15, 2026 laid out new evidence that the District Attorney's office said proves Hayes was wrongfully convicted, per Action News 5. The office publicly called the conviction "an injustice," per Local Memphis. New evidence later led investigators to a different suspect, per WREG; FOX13 reported that the newly named suspect has since died, a development the station said complicates the case. That person, Sarah Lucas, was charged with facilitation of first-degree murder and perjury but died in custody before her arraignment and was never tried or convicted; she is presumed innocent. Hayes' family spent the summer holding rallies and gathering signatures demanding his release, per Action News 5 in July 2026.
What the court does with a motion both sides support is now the open question. The order, when it comes, is the primary record.
Why It Matters for Memphis
A conviction the county's own prosecutors no longer stand behind is an accountability record twice over: once for the original investigation and prosecution that produced it in 2010, and once for the review process that took until 2026 to unwind it. The docket in Shelby County Criminal Court, not any press conference, will show what the office conceded, when, and on what evidence.
The Oversight Question
When both sides of a courtroom agree a man was wrongfully convicted, what took nineteen years, and which office owns the answer?
Update, October 11, 2026: Judge Lee Coffee of Shelby County Criminal Court heard two days of evidence on the motion, August 25 and 26, 2026, and declined to rule. "Andrew Hayes does not walk out of jail today. He does not walk out of jail tomorrow," the judge said, according to Action News 5, and he set the case for October 9. The 901 Report covered that hearing in Both Sides Asked the Court to Clear Andrew Hayes. The Judge Said He Does Not Walk Out of Jail Today.
No ruling came on October 9. The case returns to court in November, when Judge Coffee will hear a motion asking him to remove himself from the case, the Daily Memphian reported October 9. The report did not give a specific November date. FOX13 reported October 9 that no ruling had been issued since the August hearing. Hayes remains in custody, and his conviction stands unless the court vacates it.
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