Exonerated Man Who Spent Over 30 Years In Prison Shot and Killed
Christopher Williams, a 62-year-old man who was exonerated in multiple murder cases after serving three decades in prison, was fatally shot Friday afternoon in North Philadelphia, police said.
Reports say that Williams was shot once in the head around 2:20 p.m. and rushed to Temple University Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 2:47 p.m.
As of Saturday, no suspects have been arrested for the shooting.
Williams was released from state prison in February 2021 after a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge tossed out his murder conviction. The District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed his case and reportedly found lying informants, prosecutorial misconduct, and hidden exculpatory evidence.
Williams and another man, Theophalis “Bilal” Wilson, had been charged in a 1989 triple slaying. Williams, who was 29 at the time, was charged with six murders in total. He spent 25 years of his sentence on death row.
Wilson was exonerated and released in 2020.
Williams filed a lawsuit last December against the city, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham, trial prosecutor David Desiderio, and 17 police detectives.
Attorney Ben Crump paid tribute to Williams on Instagram.
Williams was a husband and father of five children. He also had numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
