Christopher Williams story will tug at your heart. It will make you think about how unlucky some people are in this journey called life.
A wrongfully convicted man from Philadelphia, who spent almost three decades in jail until his release in 2021, was fatally shot while he was reportedly attending a funeral.
No arrests have been made yet after Christopher Williams, 62, “suffered gunshot wounds to the head” at Mount Peace Cemetery on Friday, December 16, 2022.
Williams had been convicted in two distinct cases — a triple murder in 1989 and the murder of Michael Haynesworth that same year. Williams and co-defendant Troy Coulston were convicted of Haynesworth’s murder in 1992.
Williams and co-defendant Theophalis Wilson were convicted of the triple homicide in 1993, as per the station.
Years later, Philadelphia prosecutors reportedly tried to overturn Williams’ convictions for both murders after discovering flawed testimony and exonerating material that had been found by police but never disclosed to defense lawyers, according to authorities.
According to the report, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) also discovered there was a significant amount of evidence in Williams’ favor that had been withheld from the initial trial, including reports of alternate suspects and accounts that contradicted those of the men who testified against him.
Christopher Williams was exonerated of his triple homicide conviction in December 2019. However, he continued to remain in jail because of Michael Haynesworth’s conviction.
The CIU then reviewed the case and discovered that Williams’ testimony did not match the actual evidence that was on hand. He was ultimately released from jail after 29 years on February 9, 2021, as a result of the CIU’s recommendation.
Christopher Williams sued the city of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, 17 police detectives or their estates, two former deputy district attorneys, and former district attorney Lynne Abraham in December 2021 for his unjust convictions, as per the report.
