Missouri man Strickland freed after 43 years in jail, leaves on wheelchair

Kevin Strickland leaves prison broken after 42 years

Kevin Strickland leaves prison broken after 43 years

A Missouri judge on Tuesday exonerated Kevin Strickland, a 62-year-old Black man who spent about 43 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

His exoneration ended one of the longest wrongful convictions in the history of the United States.

Strickland, now on wheelchair, was ordered released by Judge James Welsh after prosecutors said Strickland had not been involved in a 1978 triple murder and must “not remain in custody a day longer,” The Kansas City Star reported.

Strickland, a teenager when he was jailed, will not receive any compensation for the more than 42 years he improperly spent behind bars.

He will only be able to draw on more than $61,000 raised on GoFundMe by the Midwest Innocence Project, according to the paper.

The case against Strickland hinged on testimony from a lone eyewitness, who later recanted and said she had been pressured by police.

Strickland told The Washington Post that he looks forward to doing two things as a free man: Seeing the ocean in person, which he has never done, and visiting his late mother’s grave.

Strickland previously told The Star that he plans to stay with one of his brothers for a short time.

During an interview with ABC News, he quipped about having so little that he might use a cardboard box to “get up under a bridge somewhere.” The reporter asked if he was being serious. “I mean, what do I have?” asked Strickland, who now uses a wheelchair.

“If they would tell me to roll out now, they’d take this chair. I’d have to crawl out of the front door. I have nothing; I have nothing.”

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