Wrongly convicted Philadelphia man Christopher Williams was fatally shot after being released from his 25-year death row stint.
According to NBC News, Christopher was gunned down at a funeral taking place on the 3000 block of West Lehigh Avenue, authorities said on Dec. 21. He reportedly “suffered gunshot wounds to the head” as he was stepping out of a vehicle at Mount Peace Cemetary at 2:20 p.m., Philly police said in a statement. That night, he was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just a few minutes later.
The former inmate was reportedly released from prison in February 2021 after being exonerated of four murders. He was acquitted of two others, and it was the first time his city had achieved such a feat.
“Never in the history of the Pennsylvania judicial system has someone been charged with six murders, acquitted of two and now exonerated of four,” The Inquirer reported Christopher saying when he was released.
Since having been freed 22 months ago, he worked as a carpenter, hoping to start his own construction business. His longtime attorney, Stuart Lev, said he wanted to employ freed convicts.
“It’s incredibly tragic. This guy went through decades in prison, 25 years on death row, for crimes he did not commit because the system failed,” Lev added. “He kept fighting, and he wouldn’t give up. He just kept insisting that he keep trying different ways of fighting. Whether that was to keep his hopes up or that was just his own determination and perseverance, that’s what he did. He worked very hard with his lawyers to make sure his lawyers kept doing that, too.”
A representative for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner additionally expressed that Christopher didn’t get enough time to enjoy his nearly two years of freedom.
“What Chris endured as a twice-wrongfully convicted exoneree is unfathomable,” Krasner’s communications director, Jane Roh, said, in a statement, about the release from his 25-year prison stint.
The Philly police are reportedly still searching for the suspect or suspects who shot and killed the ex-Death Row inmate. He’s survived by six children.
