Late in the morning on February 6, 1996, George Bryant and Oscar Bridges were at Bryant's

Kansas City home.

According to four-year-old Kayla Bryant, her father invited in three men dressed in black,

whom she had seen at the house two days earlier.

It's believed that they were there for a drug deal.

While the men were in the kitchen, Kayla heard a gunshot.

Her father fell and Oscar Bridges ran into the basement where he was later discovered

bound, gagged, and shot twice in the head.

While the men searched the house, George tried to run, was shot, and bled out in the

snow.

The three men sped off in a white ol's bevel.

Police received anonymous tips naming ten men as suspects, including men who knew George

Bryant, Gary Goodspeed, Senior and Junior, Marcus Merrill, and Ricky Kid.

With an alibi that included a trip to the sheriff's office and not being identified by Kayla,

Ricky was released after recording a video lineup.

Weeks later, George Bryant's neighbor Richard Harris was arrested while on parole.

In exchange for leniency, he offered a description of the crime that was inconsistent with all

other witnesses, along with an ever-growing confidence in his identification of Ricky

Kid.

Despite evidence that mostly pointed toward Merrill and both Good speeds, authorities

decided to prosecute Ricky on the strength of an incentivized informant and against the

protest of the four-year-old witness.

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