CRUEL WORLD

Philly Man Who Was Wrongfully Imprisoned for 30 Yrs Is Killed at a Funeral

Christopher Williams, 62, had only been out of prison for 22 months.

A wrongfully convicted man who spent nearly 30 years in prison was shot dead at a funeral last Friday, less than two years after he was finally released, Philadelphia police said Wednesday. Christopher Williams, 62, was convicted in 1992 and 1993 for two separate cases, first for the murder of Michael Haynesworth in 1989, then for a triple murder that same year. He was released 22 months ago after prosecutors found exonerating evidence and tainted testimony that police had but never shared with lawyers. “It’s incredibly tragic. This guy went through decades in prison, 25 years on death row for crimes that he did not commit, because the system failed,” his longtime attorney, Stuart Lev, told NBC News. Williams had been working as a carpenter in hopes of starting his own construction business that would give work to freed convicts, Lev said. No arrests were made after the shooting, and police haven’t released further information on a possible motive.