Alabama man found not guilty in 1988 murder of 11-year-old girl in Lawrence

LAWRENCE - An Alabama man accused of killing an 11-year-old girl in Lawrence in 1988 has been found not guilty after a retrial.

Marvin McClendon was arrested at his home in Alabama in 2022 and charged in connection with the death of Melissa Ann Tremblay. He was held without bail following his arrest. Prosecutors said McClendon was linked to her murder through DNA evidence .

A jury returned a verdict of not guilty in Essex Superior Court Tuesday afternoon. Jurors deliberated for more than a week in the second trial.

DA "disappointed with the verdict"

"While disappointed with the verdict, the efforts of our prosecutors and law enforcement in this case were extraordinary," said Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker. "I recognize the work and dedication of the jury during their long deliberations in this case. My thoughts are with the family of Melissa Ann Tremblay, who have suffered greatly due to the crime that took her life."

In 2022, former Essex DA Jonathan Blodgett said McClendon had been a person of interest in the case "for some time."

In the first trial last December, a judge declared a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury.

Tremblay, who lived in Salem, New Hampshire, was with her mother and mother's boyfriend at a social club in Lawrence shortly before she was killed. She left the club to play in nearby neighborhoods and was later found stabbed to death in a freight yard off Andover Street on September 12, 1988.

McClendon is a retired Massachusetts Department of Corrections officer and was doing carpentry work at the time of the murder.