A 48-year-old drug lord from Connecticut who perpetrated the murder of a mother and her 8-year-old son to prevent her from testifying against his brother has been granted clemency through former President Joe Biden’s initiative to pardon nearly 2,500 federal inmates classified as “non-violent.”
The perpetrator, Adrian Peeler, a drug dealer from Bridgeport, committed the heinous act against a woman named Karen Clarke and her 8-year-old son right before they were scheduled to testify against his brother. The brother was facing charges for the shooting of Clarke’s boyfriend in front of the child.
The tragic incident occurred as the mother and son arrived back at their apartment in January 1999. Law enforcement discovered the child with a gunshot wound to the back of his head on the stairs, while Clarke was found with multiple gunshot wounds, with her hand outstretched just inches away from a phone, as reported by CT Post.
Peeler’s brother, Russell Peeler, was sentenced to death for ordering the murders but had his punishment commuted to life in prison without parole after Connecticut abolished capital punishment.
The list of Biden’s “non-violent” clemency recipients, released separately, included more violent offenders than just Peeler.
Two Virginia men serving life prison sentences in connection with a drug case that left a Sussex County police officer dead in 1998 were also set free.
Ferrone Claiborne and Terence Richardson, known as the “Waverly Two,” both admitted to playing a role in the death of Officer Allen Gibson but were later acquitted of murder at trial due to an apparent lack of evidence. But they were convicted of lesser charges and sentenced to life in prison anyway.
President Joe Biden at a Department of Defense farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Jan. 16, 2025, in Arlington, Va. In his final days in office, he granted thousands of clemency requests. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Gibson, 25, stumbled upon a back alley drug deal in Waverly involving Richardson and Claiborne. According to authorities, the two attacked and disarmed him. He was later found with a gunshot wound to his stomach, right below his bulletproof vest.
Richardson pleaded guilty to state charges for involuntary manslaughter and Claiborne pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. They later went to trial in federal court, where prosecutors failed to convince the jury they were guilty of murder but secured convictions on drug trafficking charges.
“I am absolutely outraged by what has happened,” Crissana Gibson, the slain officer’s daughter, said in a statement released by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. “My heart is shattered knowing that the men that killed my father are going to be released from prison and can walk the streets freely.”
Separate from the “non-violent” commutations, Biden ignored pleas from former FBI Director Christopher Wray and ordered the release of Leonard Peltier, a left-wing activist convicted for his role in an ambush shooting that left two FBI agents dead in South Dakota in 1975.
On his last day in office, he commuted Peltier’s life prison sentence and gave last-minute preemptive pardons to his family members and allies, including his siblings, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and members of the January 6 Committee. He had previously pardoned his son, Hunter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
