Lynn DeJac

Lynn DeJac Peters (November 20, 1963 – June 18, 2014) was an American woman from Buffalo, New York, who spent 13 years in prison for the murder of her daughter before her conviction was vacated in 2007, making her the first woman to be exonerated of murder on the basis of DNA evidence. She successfully sued the state of New York for wrongful conviction.

Murder of Crystallynn Girard

DeJac's daughter Crystallynn Girard, 13, died near midnight on February 13, 1993, or in the early hours of February 14. She was found naked on her bed and medical examiner ruled that she had been strangled. Crystallynn had cocaine in her system, but the medical examiner determined it was not enough to kill her. Another man, Wayne Hudson, who had a history of criminal offenses, claimed that DeJac confessed to him that she had murdered her daughter. Donohue was given immunity to testify against DeJac after he passed a polygraph test. During the trial, prosecutors attacked DeJac's troubled past, which included having Crystallynn when she was just 16, promiscuity and a drinking problem.

In April 1994, DeJac was convicted of second-degree murder for her daughter's death and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. According to her lawyer, she had been convicted of the murder of her daughter based primarily on evidence from a neighbor who claimed DeJac had confessed the murder. There was no physical or forensic evidence implicating DeJac. DeJac was pregnant with twin boys during the trial and gave birth in jail, and later married their father, Chuck Peters, while still in prison. Prison officials did not allow her any visitation with her newborn children because she continued to proclaim her innocence.

In 2007, Hudson recanted his testimony that DeJac had confessed to Crystallynn's murder, but he was seen as an unreliable witness. At the same time, however, new forensic analysis revealed the presence of Donohue's DNA at the crime scenes for both Crystallynn and Giambra.

On November 28, 2007, DeJac's conviction was overturned based on the physical evidence linking the murder to Dennis Donohue. Donohue cannot be tried for the death of Crystallynn Girard, however, as he was granted immunity at her trial. In September 2007, he was arrested for Giambra's murder, 13 years after her death.

According to the Innocence Project, DeJac is the first woman to be exonerated of murdering someone on the basis of DNA evidence. A previous case had involved the reversal of the conviction of Paula Grey, who had been convicted as an accomplice to murder, but was cleared when the conviction of the principals was reversed. Later, the prosecutor dropped the case after consulting with a new forensic pathologist, who announced that Crystallynn had died of a cocaine overdose. Both Detective Delano and DeJac were outraged and insisted that Crystallynn was murdered by Donohue, and that the trace amounts of cocaine found could have been transferred by Donohue during her murder. "My daughter was murdered," DeJac said. "There's no question my daughter was murdered." represented DeJac in her civil suit against the state of New York and secured a $2.7 million settlement. They also filed a $30 million federal lawsuit against Erie County and the city of Buffalo. A journalist for The Buffalo News commented, "The district attorney's office — in a monumental blunder — granted lifetime immunity to Donohue, who should have been a prime suspect. Instead, DeJac was arrested, convicted and wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years in her daughter's strangulation."