Murder charges dropped for man imprisoned 20 years

CHICAGO — A Chicago man who has spent 20 years in prison on a double-murder conviction will be released after a new investigation.

Daniel Taylor was convicted in the 1992 slayings of Jeffrey Lassiter and Sharon Haugabook in an apartment in the Uptown neighborhood.

But Taylor says police coerced him into confessing.

Arrest records also showed that the then-17-year-old Taylor was already in police custody at the time of the killings for creating a disturbance.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office said Friday it was dropping all charges against Taylor after a review of the case and would not pursue a re-trial.

State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says her office will also review the convictions of two imprisoned co-defendants.

Taylor was helped by the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University's Law School.