Garrett Phillips
Twelve-year-old Garrett Phillips was strangled in his Potsdam, New York apartment. Soccer coach Oral 'Nick' Hillary was charged but acquitted. The case remains unsolved.
On October 24, 2011, twelve-year-old Garrett Phillips was found unresponsive in his apartment in Potsdam, a small college town in northern New York. He had been strangled and his apartment showed signs of forced entry. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The investigation focused on Oral 'Nick' Hillary, a Clarkson University soccer coach who had previously dated Garrett's mother Tandy Cyrus. Hillary, who is Black, maintained his innocence.
Hillary was charged with second-degree murder in 2014. His trial, which included questions about racial bias in the investigation, ended in acquittal in 2016. The judge found the prosecution's evidence insufficient.
The case remains officially unsolved. It was the subject of a 2019 HBO documentary that examined issues of race and justice in the small, predominantly white community.
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