2 days ago
Mahdi Ali's family ups pressure for exoneration in 2010 Seward Market killings
The Brief
Mahdi Ali is serving three consecutive 30 year sentences for the triple murder from early 2010.
An accomplice told FOX 9's Tom Lyden in 2021 that he lied in Ali's trial so that he would take the fall, changing his story to say Ali wasn't there.
A coalition to free Ali from prison delivered a resolution from the Minneapolis Federation of Educators to the Hennepin County Attorney, which has begun a review of the case.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Just after a group of activists gathered outside the Hennepin County government center to demand Mahdi Ali's release, Ali himself called in from Oak Park Heights prison.
He again maintained his innocence as this coalition works to get his case reviewed and Ali exonerated.
"Please join me," he said. "Join my team, fight for justice, fight for exoneration."
What we know
The coalition began a concerted effort to free Ali a few months ago. A couple weeks ago, they got the Hennepin County Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit to agree to take a look.
"They tell us it might take a while and that's fine," said Michelle Gross, a police-brutality activist who's taken an active role in fighting for Ali's release. "We're patient people, but we're not going to tolerate him remaining in prison forever and ever and ever."
They gathered Tuesday to present Hennepin County Attorney with another document: A resolution passed by the Minneapolis Federation of Educators also asking Ali's case be reviewed.
Several members of the coalition are teachers who knew Ali. One is the union president.
The backstory
In early 2010, two men entered the Seward Market in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. Security footage shows them robbing the store.
One of the men shot both of the clerks working there, as well as a customer who walked in the front door. It all happened in one minute.
Mahdi Ali was quickly identified as a suspect and interviewed by detectives. He admitted being with two men who were also considered suspects, but insisted he wasn't there.
But one of the other men said Ali was the one who fired the fatal shots and testified to that at Ali's trial.
In 2021, in an interview with FOX 9 investigator Tom Lyden, that accomplice said he lied, that Ali wasn't there, that they made him the scapegoat. That man, convicted in the robbery, has since been let out of prison.
"His accusation that Mahdi was with him, he has recanted," said Marcia Howard, the MFE president. "He has said that Mahdi was not with him."
The coalition activists are trying to find that man to get him to say the same thing on the record to those reviewing Ali's conviction. So far, no luck.
What's next
Gross acknowledges that reviewing the case is complicated, but hopes continued pressure can speed things along.
Adding to the pressure is Marvina Haynes, whose brother was exonerated last year after nearly 20 years in prison for murder after it was determined the eyewitness testimony was faulty.
"And we want Madhi Ali released immediately," said Haynes. "Mahdi is innocent."
Mahdi Ali was a teenager when convicted. He's now 30 years old. He'll be 107 when his sentence is served.
