VIDEO: Verona Woman Is Exonerated After Being Falsely Accused For Murder

LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Imagine being arrested for a that crime you didn’t commit.

Well, that was the harsh reality for Qushawinia Martin of Verona, who was falsely accused of murdering Freddie Mosely at Mustang Inn in Jackson.

Martin spent four days in jail for the alleged crime.

“I found out on September 14th, so I found out two days after my picture had already been all over the internet,” said Martin, recalling the day she was falsely accused. “That day was my baby’s birthday actually, and for me not to go home to her that night was very devastating.”

Martin said it’s a horrible feeling being behind bars for a crime she knows she did not commit.

“It put me in another state of mind mentally,” she explained. “Mentally it really took a toll on me because I was in there, I was away from my kids, I couldn’t talk to anyone, and it put me in a state of mind where I probably would have tried to hurt myself.”

The mother of three was connected to the murder due to identity theft.

She lost her ID a while ago, and it somehow ended up in the wrong hands.

A couple checked into the Mustang Inn and rented a room using Martin’s name and ID.

When the murder happened, Martin was automatically linked to it, when in reality it was the couple who used her ID who allegedly committed the crime.

“There was no way possible that she could have been in Jackson before, during our after these periods,” said Willie Allen, Martin’s attorney.

Once Allen caught wind of what was going on, he and Ray Shoemaker immediately gathered evidence to prove Martin’s innocence.

“First I started off with interviews from key individuals that could put her in the location I thought she was in, family members and friends,” said Ray Shoemaker, legal investigator. “From there, I retrieved her phone messages, text  messages, and phone calls from the telephone company.”

“In addition to that, she had an app on her phone from her insurance carrier that keeps up with mileage and things of that nature and it also shows where she could have possibly been,” said Allen.

Unfortunately, Allen said the lead detective on the case chose not to look at any of that evidence they gathered, nor surveillance video from the motel the night of the murder.

“They were just sure of themselves that she was acutally the individual that committed the murder,” Allen expressed. “That was surprising. I’ve never seen someone who didn’t even want to consider what we had to say about her whereabouts.”

However, it was this past Friday when prosecutors took a look at the evidence and saw that Martin in fact is innocent, and ultimately dropped all charges against her.

Allen said although he’s happy his client has been exonerated, the damage has already been done and he wants to work on clearing her name.

“The great thing about it is she’s out of jail, but the bad thing about it is she shouldn’t have been there in the beginning,” he said.

“I went to work this morning, just to be able to put the key in that lock and to be able to walk through there,” said Martin. “I mean, just 72 hours ago I wasn’t able to do that, so it’s really a blessing.”

At this time Allen doesn’t plan to file a lawsuit against the Jackson Police Department, but said he does plan to file a complaint against the lead detective.

JPD said they’re looking for 23 year-old Samayah Reed and 25 year-old Marvin Willoughby in connection with Mosley’s death. If anyone has any information, you’re asked to contacted JPD.