Three Baltimore men have had their murder convictions overturned after spending some 30 years behind bars. Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were all released from prison Monday after receiving an apology from Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters on behalf of the criminal justice system that has caused them such heartache.
“On the inside, I hate to put it like this, but we went through hell,” Watkins said as he was mobbed by his family. “This is the day that the Lord has made. He has set the captives free … my journey is just beginning.”
Watkins’ sister, Dollie Boyd, said she had been pleading with God to let justice prevail and for her brother to be freed. “I just prayed to the Lord every day to bring my brother home. That’s all I ever wanted,” she said, according to USA Today.
Chestnut said he would be spending a period of time adjusting to life outside the four walls of his prison cell. “It’s a lot of guys that I left behind, that are in the same situation that I’m in,” he explained, as reported by CNN. “They need a voice. I had an opportunity, by the grace of God, to have someone who heard me.”
The trio of men were originally arrested on Thanksgiving Day in 1983 after 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett was shot in the neck. Despite being sentenced to life for the killing, last year, the case was reopened after it was discovered that…
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