Betty Tyson dies at 75, spent 25 years in New York prison before murder conviction was overturned

By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press

A Rochester, New York, woman who spent 25 years in prison for murder before being exonerated will be laid to rest Friday. Betty Tyson died last week in a Rochester hospital following a heart attack. Her sister confirmed the death Wednesday and said Thomas was 75 years old and had recently marked a milestone, having spent as much time free after her incarceration as she had behind bars. Tyson was sent to prison in 1974 for the death of a Philadelphia business consultant. A judge overturned her conviction in 1998, ruling that the police had withheld exculpatory evidence. By then, she was the longest-serving female inmate in New York state.