Marni Yang & Shaun Gayle: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Marni Yang is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of the pregnant girlfriend of former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle. The story will be featured on tonight’s episode of 20/20 on ABC.

In a case that sent shockwaves through Chicago, Yang was convicted of the murder of Rhoni Reuter who was six months pregnant at the time. Now, Yang is breaking her silence in her first television interview with Nightline anchor Juju Chang.

The episode of 20/20 will also feature interviews with Yang’s children Andrew, Emily and Brandon. The two-hour episode 20/20 airs tonight, Friday, May 8, at 9 p.m.

Here’s what you should know about Yang and Gayle:

1. Gayle’s Pregnant Girlfriend Was Shot and Killed

In 2007, Gayle was dating Rhoni Reuter. In an interview, Reuter’s brother said his sister wanted to marry the former defensive back but Gayle hadn’t been ready to settle down.

On the day of her death, IBT reports that Reuter had been getting ready for work when she was “hit with several bullets” inside her home.

In the preview for 20/20, Gayle’s call to 911 is made public. In the call, he can be heard saying that he knew he was a suspect in the crime before asking if his girlfriend was okay. The police officer responds that she was not okay.

2. Yang and Gayle Were in a Sexual Relationship

During the 2011 trial for the shooting death of Reuter, Gayle took the stand and revealed that he had over a dozen sexual partners at the time. He said he was buying baby name books and he was actually looking forward to the birth of his child though.

He said that he and Yang had met in 2005 at a Bears convention and their relationship started as a professional one at first.

He went on to admit while testifying that the relationship later became sexual and he had sex with Yang on the night before his girlfriend was shot and killed in her condo.

3. Prosecutors Suggest Yang Was Obsessed With Gayle

The prosecution suggested that Yang was obsessed with Gayle and had previously hacked into his computer.

They alleged that she located the names and emails of 17 of his girlfriends and wrote them on a note to Reuter saying “I think you would like to know what your boyfriend Shaun is doing with a lot of other women.”

Witnesses from her son’s football practice testified that she would brag about brag about writing the letter and said she wrote it in broken English to frame one of Gayle’s foreign girlfriends.

4. Yang Says She is Innocent

Yang has now declared her innocence after spending nearly a decade in prison.

She confessed to the murder during a recorded message with a friend that was then played during her trial, but she now says she made up that confession because she feared police would charge her teenage son. She says she was wrongfully convicted.

Her children, Andrew, Emily and Brandon now also allege police coerced them into making false statements. There will be new evidence that is discussed during 20/20 which will question if the right person is in prison, according to Daily Mail.

Yang’s attorney has filed a motion asking for fingerprint evidence from the scene to be run through the federal computer system. Police had already determined the print does not belong to Yang or any of Reuter’s friends.

5. Yang Is Currently Seeking Release From Prison Due to COVID-19

According to the Chicago Tribune, Yang is currently seeking release from prison. According to an emergency petition filed by attorney Jed Stone, Yang has asthma, Type 2 diabetes and a compromised immune system. The petition says that coming in contact with COVID-19 would be a “life-threatening event.”

They are seeking that her sentence be commuted to time served and for her release from incarceration “as quickly as possible.”

“For almost a dozen years an innocent woman has languished behind bars for a crime she did not commit,” Stone wrote in the petition, filed Tuesday. “Now with the onset of a pandemic of epic proportions, Marni faces life-threatening harm if exposed to COVID-19. How tragic would it be if this deadly disease ends her quest for justice?”

Currently, the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, where Yang is incarcerated, has four coronavirus cases among staff members but none among inmates.

Elissa Wall, Rebecca Musser’s Sister: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know