February 21, 2002: Date of baby 6-month-old Chloe Madison Britt’s accidental death. Jeffrey Havard is taken into custody.
February 23, 2002: Havard is served with his arrest warrant based on a faulty probable cause affidavit and is charged with capital murder.
December 17, 2002: Trial commences.
December 19, 2002: Havard is sentenced to death by the State of Mississippi and is transferred to death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.
February 9, 2006: The Mississippi Supreme Court affirms the criminal death penalty on direct appeal.
May 2, 2008: Havard’s Petition for Post-Conviction Relief is denied.
May 22, 2008: The court denies Havard’s Petition for Post-Conviction Relief.
April 10, 2009: Havard files Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus.
March 22, 2012: The court denies Havard’s Second Petition for Post-Conviction Relief.
May 10, 2012: Mississippi Supreme Court denies Havard’s Motion for Rehearing.
April 9, 2013: Havard files Petition in federal court.
November 25, 2013: Based on new expert evidence, Havard’s team files motion for relief from judgment or for leave to file successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief at the state level.
May 30, 2014: Harvard’s defense team files a motion to amend Petition filed on November 25, 2013.
August 19, 2014: Havard’s defense team files a rebuttal to the State’s denial to amend Petition.
May 31, 2016: Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously orders an evidentiary hearing for Havard’s case based on defense claims of new evidence due to changes in the science behind shaken baby syndrome.
August 14, 2017: The hearing begins 15 months after Havard’s evidentiary hearing was ordered.
September 14, 2018: 13 months after Havard’s evidentiary hearing in the trial court, Adams County Circuit Judge Forrest A. Johnson orders Havard off death row. The judge vacated the death sentence out of “an abundance of caution” and ordered a resentencing limited to the death penalty or life without parole.
September 15, 2018: Havard is moved from death row to central processing for reassignment one day later, which usually takes months for former death row prisoners.
December 17, 2018: Judge Forrest A. Johnson sentences Havard to life in prison without parole.
September 8, 2022: Havard’s defense filed a second amended habeas corpus petition.
Justice for Jeffrey Havard 