A Mississippi woman who spent 11 years behind bars for murder has been released on bond after the state’s highest court allowed a ruling to stand that found prosecutors failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Tameshia Shelton, 48, walked free this week after the Mississippi Supreme Court declined to overturn a December 2025 decision by the Mississippi Court of Appeals granting her a new trial. Shelton was convicted in 2015 in the 2009 shooting death of Danelle Young, the 21-year-old boyfriend of her youngest sister.
Shelton was released on a $50,000 bond with assistance from the Mississippi Fund Collective. Her family greeted her outside the Clay County Detention Center on Monday with hugs, party blowers, and a teddy bear on her 48th birthday.
“I felt numb before, but now it feels real,” Shelton said after her release, Mississippi Today reported.
Appeals Court Found Conviction Was Not Supported
The Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled prosecutors failed to prove Shelton’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt” and found she received ineffective legal representation during her trial.
The court concluded Shelton’s attorney, Rod Ray, failed to present an apparent suicide note allegedly written by Young, despite its potential significance to the defense.
The note reportedly thanked Shelton for her kindness, expressed his love for her sister, and stated, “I have no life without her. These are my last words.”
The appeals court also determined the trial court wrongly denied Shelton relief after the state’s forensic pathologist reversed his original opinion that Young’s death was a homicide.
On June 6, the Mississippi Supreme Court voted 6-1 to leave the appeals court ruling intact, clearing the way for Shelton’s release and a new trial.
Forensic Expert Changed His Opinion
At Shelton’s 2015 trial, forensic pathologist Dr. Liam Funte testified that the bullet’s trajectory indicated Young had been shot by another person.
Six years later, Funte said his conclusion had been incorrect.
“I now regard my determination of the manner of death of Danelle Young to be in error … I see no evidence to support homicide,” he wrote in a 2021 affidavit, the Atlanta Black Star reported.
After gaining additional experience and reviewing scientific literature, Funte concluded the gunshot wound was consistent with a self-inflicted wound and changed the manner of death to “undetermined, but leaning towards suicide.”
The appeals court cited the revised medical opinion as another reason Shelton deserved a new trial.
Defense Challenged Gunshot Residue Evidence
Prosecutors relied heavily on gunshot residue evidence and the original autopsy findings to argue that Shelton shot Young.
Investigators found gunshot residue on both Shelton and Young, but a firearms expert who later testified during post-conviction evidentiary proceedings said the number and location of residue particles could not determine whether a shooting was self-inflicted or committed by another person.
Shelton had told investigators she loaded her .22-caliber revolver before handing it to Young after he asked to borrow it to shoot what he claimed was a raccoon near her home. She said she later heard a single gunshot, found Young wounded beneath a tree, and remained on a 17-minute 911 call pleading for help.
Prosecutors never presented a motive for why Shelton would have wanted to kill Young.
District Attorney Has Not Decided Whether To Retry the Case
Shelton’s attorneys with the Mississippi Innocence Project are asking the court to dismiss the indictment.
“We’re very pleased,” attorney Sandra Levick said after the Supreme Court’s decision, per Black Star. “We look forward to Ms. Shelton returning to Clay County where justice can finally be done.”
District Attorney Scott Colom has not announced whether prosecutors will pursue a new trial. He previously said that if the case returned to his office, he would “look at what the facts show and do justice.”
After reviewing the case in 2018, Colom acknowledged he had concerns about the evidence.
“The evidence sounded thin. There was not much motive,” he said previously, according to Black Star.
He also questioned why Shelton would have remained on the phone with emergency dispatchers for 17 minutes if she had committed the crime.
“If Shelton were truly guilty of murder, why would somebody call 911 and stay on the phone for, I think it was 17 minutes, begging people to come to the scene to talk to the one person in the world who could say who did or who did not do it?” Colom testified during a 2022 hearing.
Family Celebrates Shelton’s Return Home
Shelton’s middle sister, Shenikia Shelton, said the family had been waiting years for the decision.
“This nightmare is close to finally being over,” she said after the Supreme Court ruling, Black Star reported. “The missing piece of our family’s puzzle is about to be home.”
Following her release, Shelton celebrated her birthday with Popeye’s chicken, hot sauce, and white bread.
She also said she hopes to help others she believes have been wrongfully convicted.
“It could be you. It could be your child. It could be your mom. It could be your brother,” Shelton said, Mississippi Today reported.
If the indictment is ultimately dismissed, Shelton would become the seventh person prosecuted in Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District to be exonerated of murder, the highest total for any district in the state, Mississippi Today reported.
Shelton’s daughter Trinity has started a GoFundMe account for her mother. She states in the post that during her 11 years in prison, her mother lost her home that had been fully paid off, lost her independence, lost precious time with her family, and developed a severe, debilitating illness, for which she did not receive proper medical attention. Funds raised will be used to provide Tameshia Shelton with housing, medical care, and “mental health counseling to help her deal with this institutional trauma.”
