D.A.'s Office Seeks Release Of Convicted Murderer

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office will seek to have convicted murderer Raymond Lee Jennings released from state prison on Thursday after new evidence was uncovered that raises doubts about his conviction in 2009. The D.A. will not discuss the nature of that evidence.

Antelope Valley College Student Michelle O'Keefe, 18, was found dead in her Mustang in a dark parking lot in 2000. Raymond Lee Jennings worked at the mall attached to that parking lot, and like most men accused of murder, consistently denied his guilt. He has been tried threee times, with the first two ending in hung juries. He plead guilty in the third case and is serving a 40 year sentence.

The case was featured in a 2015 episode of Dateline NBC.

"My office has been presented with credible new evidence that brings this conviction into question," Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. "Attorneys assigned to the newly created Conviction Review Unit have examined the evidence and are working with law enforcement personnel to investigate further. In the interest of justice, I am asking the court to release Raymond Jennings on his own recognizance while this investigation continues."

The Conviction Review Unit will ask a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to release Jennings on his own recognizance while law enforcement completes its active investigation. The 8:30 a.m. hearing will be at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Department 100.

Jennings was sentenced on Feb. 18, 2010, to 40 years to life in state prison for the 2000 fatal shooting of Michelle O'Keefe at a Palmdale parking lot.