When Deandre Pointer appeared in front of a Jackson County judge in June 2023, his world was bright.

After years of protesting his innocence of murder charges and failing to convince any court, Pointer cut a deal to trade his life without parole sentence for a 23-year term on two counts of second degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action.

He had been in custody for 21 years and thought the deal would mean he’d served enough time to be released in 2024.

“The only reason why I took this plea was that my father was sick,” Pointer said in an interview with The Independent at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

But when a Missouri Department of Corrections record clerk finished processing his paperwork, Pointer’s world turned dark.

Instead of being given almost 7,000 days o

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