FOX 32 Exclusive: Marni Yang's first jailhouse interview since murder conviction

CHICAGO - The woman serving a double life sentence for murdering the pregnant girlfriend of former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle in 2007 spoke for the first time since her arrest to FOX 32's Natalie Bomke.

Marni Yang has been behind bars for over a decade. She's incarcerated in downstate Illinois at the Logan Correctional Center. Her defense team is making a new push to get her out of prison, citing her health and the coronavirus.

"What's going on right now presents an imminent and unprecedented danger to my immediate health and safety," said Yang in a phone interview earlier this week.

Her attorney has filed an emergency clemency petition with the state, asking the Illinois governor to release her for time served.

"We live in an extremely close, crowded environment with four women to a small room. There are 66 women sharing one bathroom," Yang said. "My age is one factor, I have diabetes, and I suffer from severe asthma. I also have a history of mono, which has left me with a permanently compromised immune system. These are all conditions which medical experts have determined not only make me more susceptible to catching the COVID-19 virus, but also of dying from it, if I do catch it."

The Illinois Department of Corrections says they are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to protect inmates. According to their website, four staff members and no inmates at Logan Correctional Center have tested positive for the coronavirus.

This new plea for Yang's release comes as her defense team is asking for a re-trial. Yang was convicted of shooting and killing Rhoni Reuter and her unborn child. Both women were allegedly romantically involved with former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle.

When asked if she had any relationship or correspondence with Reuter, Yang said no.

"I didn't know her. We had never met, as far as I know, we had never come into contact with each other, so no," she added.

The Lake County State's Attorney's Office claims that's not true. In a motion to dismiss the case, filed earlier this year, they wrote there is substantial evidence showing Yang was aware of Reuter and her relationship with Gayle.

Yang's defense team is also calling into question Gayle's alibi on the day of Reuter's murder.

"Well, his alibi is unsubstantiated," said Yang. We reached out to Gayle's attorney who had no comment. Police have ruled out Gayle as a suspect in the murder.

It took jurors four hours to find Yang guilty of murder. The key piece of evidence was a taped confession at a restaurant, captured by Yang's friend, who was wearing a wire. Prosecutors said Yang described details of the murder scene that only the killer would have known.

When asked why she confessed to the murder, Yang said the following.

"Oh well... I can tell you that by the time I decided to make the confession, my family had been under relentless attack by Lake County detectives to the point where my children actually suffered a breakdown. They repeatedly kidnapped my son from school and threatened him and there was nothing we could do about it. I felt, we all felt, just so helpless. I was willing to say anything at that point to protect my children."

In their written motion to dismiss the case, the Lake County State's Attorney addressed this claim of harassment saying, “Two of her children told the police that the Defendant was not home during the murder, and that she told them to lie and say she was. This is now spun as police coercion and subordination of perjury."

The possibility of a re-trial moves forward, with the next hearing scheduled for May 21.