06/19/2025
ALIJ Executive Director Rob Perkins and co-counsel Ryan James (James Law LLC) have the true honor of representing Andrea Dusha, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering her daughter. This week, Andrea took a critical step forward in getting the justice that she so desperately deserves when a Fayette County judge granted Andrea a new trial.
Here’s Andrea’s story in brief: in 2016, Andrea’s 2-year-old daughter Lydia tragically died. As Andrea grieved this heart-wrenching loss, she was traumatized further when prosecutors charged and convicted her of murdering her daughter. Andrea then spent nearly a decade behind bars, where she was physically removed from the lives of her other children.
The homicide charge against Andrea was based on Dr. Cyril Wecht’s autopsy finding that Andrea starved her daughter to death. Several years after Andrea went to prison, however, Dr. Wecht dropped a bombshell revelation: he admitted that his autopsy findings were momentously wrong.
Prosecutors then hired a new expert, who determined that Lydia’s death was not a homicide at all; rather, she died of natural causes.
In the face of this blatant injustice, the Fayette County District Attorney initially fought to keep Andrea’s wrongful conviction in place. But this week, a judge granted Andrea a new trial.
As a next step, we are hopeful that the Fayette County District Attorney will do the right thing, follow the evidence (and specifically the prosecution’s own expert’s determination that Lydia’s death was not a homicide), and withdraw the homicide charge against Andrea.
A Fayette County judge on Tuesday granted a new trial to a woman who was imprisoned for starving her young daughter to death. Andrea Dusha, who has been free on bail while an appeal of her conviction is pending, appeared in court in Uniontown expecting a hearing. Instead, Fayette County
