Darryl Burton & Daughter, Tynesha Lee
Here's the other half of Darryl Burton's Story...told by his daughter, Tynesha...at St. Andrew Christian Church, Olathe, KS.
Tynesha Ann Lee was born on April 23rd, 1983, in St. Louis, Mo. She attended elementary school there until the age of 7. She is the eldest of her 4 siblings. Tynesha’s last contact with her biological father Darryl Burton was when he sent her a “Cabbage Patch Doll” and her first bicycle in the 1980’s. She was raised by her great-grand mother, her mother Rhonda Mullen and her step-dad, Donald Clifford Lee, where she inherited her birth name.
Tynesha later learned that her biological father Darryl Burton had been sent to prison for capital murder and armed criminal action to serve life without parole for killing a man in St. Louis, Mo., her dad had been wrongfully convicted of the murder charge when in fact he was innocent. Tynesha’s tragedy was parallel to her dad’s from those early years. Her mom was a teenage mother who had little moral support of her own. Though her biological father had no ties in her life, through many attempts he was denied the chance to be in her life by her Great grandmother, Sara Mullen. Tynesha’s mom Rhonda resorted to a life surrounded by and exposed to drugs, boosting, gangs, hustling, violence and the streets. Tynesha cared for her siblings from the age of 7 to 12 years old. This was a very depressing time for her. She and her siblings, Johnathan Lamar Henderson, Ashley Saharia Mullen and Arthor Lavon Mullen, due to her mom’s crack & cocaine addictions forcing her to help by baby-sitting and at times miss several days out of the school throughout the week to feed and watch them. They lived in stranger’s basements, local domestic violence shelters, and even in an abandoned home for survival.
A plethora of negative events happened which put them at risk of great harm and eventually placed them in shelters all over again which was a living hell. Due to a series of misfortunes, Rhonda then lost custody of her children to the State of Georgia, Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS), August 12, 1996. Tynesha, Ashley and Arthor were then considered wards of the court. Rhonda's parental rights were terminated November 11th, 1998, classifying Tynesha and her siblings as orphans indefinitely.
Tynesha was reunited with her biological father Darryl Burton who was exonerated August 29th, 2008 after serving 24 years for a crime he did not commit. The last time he saw her she was 7 months old. When they met again it was January 2009, a few months prior to Tynesha’s 26th birthday.Tynesha currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, is in school pursuing business finance and is a Patient Care Advocate at a Specialty Pharmaceutical Company. Though never given the opportunity to adopt them financially, Ashley & Arthor are still residing in Georgia, Tynesha speaks highly of them saying that she is a PROUD big sister; still to this day being together is their lifelong desire & dream.
To schedule Darryl and Tynesha to speak please go to the Contact Darryl Burton page and follow the instructions.
