7 people identified murder suspect, but another man went to prison, Illinois suit says
.png "Frank Drew spent 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, according to a federal lawsuit.")
An Illinois man says police framed him in a fatal shooting, and he spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, according to a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed March 4 in the Northern District of Illinois lists the city of Evanston, Cook County and several individuals as defendants.
In response to McClatchy News’ request for comment, the city of Evanston said it does not comment on pending litigation. Cook County did not immediately respond.
The lawsuit stems from a 1996 killing that Frank Drew says police framed him for, leading to a 60-year prison sentence.
Ronald Walker’s murder
On Dec. 12, 1996, Ronald Walker was standing near an intersection when two men approached him, according to the civil complaint. The men said something to Walker before shooting him and running away, the lawsuit said.
Several people witnessed the shooting, the lawsuit said.
An investigation into Walker’s death was opened, and detectives with the Evanston Police Department talked to several witnesses who said they saw the two men walking in the area, shoot Walker and run away.
Seven witnesses helped identify a man, Gregory Boyd, who they said fit the description of Walker’s killer, the suit said. Boyd later confessed to killing Walker along with two other people; however he was released from police custody and the case went cold, the lawsuit said.
Frank Drew
At the time of Walker’s death, Drew was a 16-year-old high school student, living with his mom, dad and siblings, the lawsuit said.
In January 1998, police arrested an accused gang member on unrelated charges, the complaint said. The man was facing up to 45 years in prison on drug and weapons charges.
While “still under pressure to close the then-cold Walker homicide investigation,” detectives threatened the man with charges related to Walker’s death, “falsely claiming that physical evidence and other witnesses implicated (him),” the lawsuit said.
The man agreed to provide a statement to authorities and said that Drew and another man came to his home about an hour after Walker’s death and admitted to shooting him, according to the complaint.
However, the lawsuit said Drew did not match the description of the suspect that witnesses gave to detectives and there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder.
The detectives
The lawsuit said detectives coerced witnesses into giving false statements to corroborate the man’s “concocted story.”
Detectives coerced the man accused of being a gang member to convince the man he said came to his home to confess to killing Walker, the lawsuit said. Because he was high-ranked in a gang, he had control over lower-ranked gang members, according to the complaint.
On Feb. 17, 1998, detectives took Drew’s fingerprints at the Evanston Police Department on an unrelated matter. However, they later arrested him and told him there was an issue with his fingerprints and he had to go back to the station, the complaint said.
Drew, 18 years old at the time, was held until the next morning when authorities began questioning him about Walker’s death, the lawsuit said.
Drew denied any involvement in Walker’s death. However, over several hours detectives interrogated him, refused to allow him to speak with his mother, and physically assaulted him, striking him multiple times, the lawsuit said.
After several hours of interrogation, detectives “overcame (Drew’s) will, and he agreed to sign a false statement incriminating himself and adopting the information Defendants provided him,” the complaint said.
However, after being coerced into making the false statement confessing to the killing, Drew then refused to sign it. But detectives threatened to harm him with more physical violence and Drew, out of fear and feeling he had no other choice, signed the “false” statement, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the defendants “fabricated a paper trail to substantiate the case they manufactured.” This included a manufactured police report with made-up details, and other false reports with made-up witness testimony, the complaint said.
The accused gang member testified in court against Drew in exchange for a lesser sentence in his drug and gun case, the lawsuit said. He was given a four-year sentence, to be served at 50%, with time served. The man said in court that it was a “pretty wonderful deal,” the lawsuit said.
Drew was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
“The following decades of Plaintiff’s life were consumed by the horror of his wrongful imprisonment,” the lawsuit said. “When his young adult life was just beginning, Plaintiff was locked in a prison, deprived of the chance to be cared for by his family, get an education, develop skills and a career, meet a life partner, start a family, and pursue his interests and passions.”
Exoneration
In 2022, the accused gang member went under oath and said he “has no idea who killed Ronald Walker.” He said he testified against Drew to secure a lesser sentence “and in response to improper police pressure,” the lawsuit said.
The other man also recanted his statement that he and Drew killed Walker, the complaint said.
“On June 17, 2022, Plaintiff walked out of prison for the first time in more than 24 years,” the lawsuit said. On March 12, 2024, all charges were dropped.
The lawsuit is asking for an undetermined amount in damages.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM with the headline "7 people identified murder suspect, but another man went to prison, Illinois suit says."
