On Wednesday, 4/06, after spending 3 years incarcerated awaiting his trial, Tyquan Atkinson, age 22, was acquitted by a jury of all charges in connection to the murder of Nicholas Flacco. As of the day this was written, he is still awaiting release from Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC), where he is held, shackled in isolation. He is held at the request of Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci, under the signed orders of Judge Carmella Jaquinto.

Tyquan’s continued incarceration is an act of spiteful retaliation. It is a desperate move to humiliate a young man whose exoneration shames the systems that hastily bent the available evidence to fit him for the murder of a police officer’s son.

Tyquan faces sentencing for 1 misdemeanor charge that he incurred while incarcerated. As it pertains to these charges, he was already granted a form of bail known as ROR or Released on Own Recognizance.

In short, Tyquan’s acquittal means that he should not have been held in PICC for the last three years. His time in incarceration, which coincided with a pandemic and egregious human rights violations, is more than enough to cover the misdemeanor charge.

We demand that the Philadelphia DA’s office drop all charges against Tyquan and count his 3 years in PICC as time served.