Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
ABC 20/20‘s “Gone Before the Storm” episode will look into Anthony Harris’ wrongful conviction in Devan Duniver‘s 1998 murder case. Harris gave his first interview since exoneration with 20/20, which first aired in 2022, detailing how investigators coerced him into confessing. Additionally, the episode addresses how authorities failed to pursue other potential leads and suspects. It airs this Friday, August 23, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
The official synopsis states, “Anthony Harris speaks with ABC News’ 20/20 more than 20 years after he was released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, the murder of his neighbor Devan Dunvier. Her killer is still wanted.”
When was Anthony Harris’ conviction in Devan Duniver’s murder overturned?
According to ABC News, the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals overturned Anthony Harris’ conviction on June 7, 2000. The appeals court determined that detectives had coerced Harris into confessing to Devan Duniver’s murder to secure a conviction. The following day, Harris walked out of the detention center a free man after spending about two years there.
While speaking in ABC 20/20’s “Gone Before the Storm,” Anthony Harris discussed in detail how an investigator pressured him into confessing in 1998. On June 27 of that year, five-year-old Devan Duniver went missing from her New Philadelphia, Ohio, apartment complex. The disappearance prompted a search for the girl whose body was discovered the following day. She died of multiple stab wounds to the neck.
Anthony Harris revealed that a police chief from a nearby town shortly after the discovery of Devan Duniver’s remains in a stationhouse. The officer repeatedly asked Harris if he killed Duniver, which he initially denied. Recalling the intense interrogation, the exoneree said, “The investigator, he had basically told me that, ‘If you confess to this murder you can go home.’ It’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I’m over here scared, so I want to go home.”
Detectives focused on Anthony Harris as a suspect despite having multiple other potential leads, reported People Magazine. Harris’ 1999 trial ended in a conviction when Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Linda Kate found him guilty of the murder.
Sadly, Devan Duniver’s killer was never brought to justice. However, Anthony Harris claims he has not given up hope just yet. He said, “We’re going to figure this out [and] give her some kind of closure.”
ABC 20/20’s “Gone Before the Storm” airs on Friday, August 23, 2024.
