On July 19, 2024, Jeffrey “Jeff” Dawkins walked out of the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Phoenix a free man after spending over 19 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. In 2005, Jeff was wrongly convicted for first-degree murder and related charges for the shooting of Brian Greene at a nightclub in Frankford, Philadelphia despite the lack of physical evidence and dubious testimony from witnesses. Thanks to persistent support and investigation from his family, new evidence shed light on Jeff’s innocence, finally allowing him to return home.
During a recent talk I had with Jeff, he described his release as being “unreal,” and “like a dream.” All of Jeff’s family and friends were there, waiting to celebrate his return to the community, giving him a warm welcome home. While incarcerated, Jeff often dreamt of being free and seeing his family again, so when he was able to, he did not sleep for the first two weeks. He said “I didn’t want to wake up and this all be a dream. I wanted to make sure this was my reality.”
Jeff’s Son Surprises His Dad with a Big Hug
On March 28, 2004, a fight broke out at the Name of the Game night club eventually leading to shots being fired and the unfortunate death of Brian Greene. In April 2004, during the initial interviews, none of the witnesses identified Jeff as the shooter only saying that “Meth” shot someone. Eventually, one witness mentioned that Meth’s real name “might have been Jeff.”
We do not know why the police started to believe that Jeff may have been the shooter, but they began putting Jeff in photo arrays in June of 2004. After reinterviewing witnesses with Jeff in photo arrays, they started to identify Jeff as the shooter. At his trial in 2005, none of the witnesses stood behind their police statements, but the jury would still convict Jeff, and he was sentenced to life without parole.
Jeff continued to fight his wrongful conviction, maintaining his innocence throughout. With the help of his family, Jeff raised awareness about his case, writing to hundreds of attorneys about his plight. Despite many legal challenges and setbacks, Jeff and his family stayed strong. They finally received a breakthrough thanks to flyers that his mom and sister placed around Frankford. A new witness came forward saying that Jeff was not the shooter. He testified that Jeff was both smaller and had a lighter complexion than the shooter, who one witness identified as being a club security guard.
After bringing this new testimony to the court, Jeff’s legal team from The Exoneration Project, the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Littler Mendelson P.C., and Holland & Knight reached an agreement with the DA’s office to vacate the conviction. Jeff decided in the end to take a plea deal for his immediate release to return to his family in lieu of continuing the long fight for an exoneration.
Jeff and His Legal Team
Over this past year, Jeff has settled into his community very smoothly, thanks to the support from his community, especially his mother and best friends from childhood. He bought a home and currently works building houses in Philly. He also consults many law firms, reviewing cases and giving his expertise on post-conviction proceedings. He is focused on working as much as possible to be financially stable for his wife’s upcoming birth of their baby boy, Latif. We would like to congratulate Jeff on his one-year anniversary and wish him the best of luck in the future with his family.
By Christian Whitehead, Summer 2025 Intern
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