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Buffalo man cleared in death of his mother and stepfather; new suspect charged

Fulton County District Attorney's office says charges have been dismissed against Keith Sylvester for the July 2018 deaths of his parents in Atlanta, GA.

ATLANTA — A Buffalo man, charged with two counts murder in the strangulation death of his mother and stepfather in Georgia had the charges against him dismissed back in March. Now another suspect identified as Cornelius Muckle has been charged in the case by Atlanta Police. 

The bodies of Deborah and Harry Hubbard, who had relocated from Buffalo in recent years, were found following a fire in their Atlanta area home in July, 2018. Evidence later showed they had been strangled. Six months later, on December 29, Deborah's son, 48-year-old Keith Sylvester of Buffalo, was charged in the case. 

Now the Fulton County District Attorney's office says Sylvester didn't do it and a new suspect is now under arrest. He spoke with 2 On Your Side's Claudine Ewing Wednesday afternoon. 

When asked about his case and the charges against him Sylvester said, "All of that was lies that the detective told in order to keep me in jail. None of it was true."

Sylvester has all along maintained his innocence. He also denied that he was interested in collecting money from any insurance policies his mother and stepfather may have had.

"I was very hurt first of all that my mother had passed away and my stepdad," he said. "You know I loved them both very much. This is not something that I would do. If I'm angry with people I just simply won't talk to 'em. You know I've never put my hands on anyone unless they put their hands on me. You know.... absolutely not."

Sylvester also said he has never met the suspect Muckle and does not know of any connection between him and his parents. 

Sylvester has now filed a lawsuit against two detectives with the Atlanta Police Department after spending 15 months in jail. 

Credit: wgrz

Back in February, 2019, Sylvester, who insisted he was innocent, spoke to 2 On Your Side's Claudine Ewing from the Fulton County Jail where he was being held without bail at the time:

Claudine: Did you kill your mother and step-father?

Keith Sylvester: Absolutely not, Claudine. I loved my mother very much and everyone in Buffalo knows that I tried to take care of both of them. I moved from Virginia to take care of them because my step-dad had had a stroke and a seizure and my mom had what I believe was a seizure. I moved back to Buffalo to take care of them. I am the only one who went to all of their doctors appointments all you have to do is go to the VA on Bailey Street. All of the doctors are familiar with me. I went to just about everyone of their appointments, no one else did, so all of these people in Buffalo can stop pretending.

Claudine: Some are saying they don't forgive you an they consider you a sick killer because they think that you in fact did it.

Keith Sylvester: Well, I didn't do it, and that's the honest to God truth.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. released the following statement Wednesday: 

“The case against Keith Sylvester was dismissed after the matter was independently investigated by the Major Felonies Unit of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. The result of this investigation shows that an assailant, who was unnamed in the original police investigation, was, in fact, in the house of Deborah and Harry Hubbard 20 minutes before a 911 call was placed regarding the fire that caused their deaths.

The information was acquired through the execution of a Google Geofence search warrant, and it took Google nearly nine months to send that information to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office from the time it was requested. The results of this search warrant identified Cornelius Muckle as the culprit whose phone was inside the house at the time of the crimes. Additionally, the Google information also revealed that Muckle pawned several items belonging to the Hubbard’s two days after the homicide.

Based upon this evidence, Muckle was charged in this incident, and the case against Keith Sylvester was dismissed.”

RELATED: Accused killer speaks from jail, "I didn't do it"

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