PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A judge has vacated the 2010 murder conviction of a man the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office says is “actually innocent.”
According to the office’s Conviction Integrity Unity, Obina Onyiah was wrongfully convicted of felony murder for the October 2010 jewelry store robbery that ended in the death of owner William Glatz.
Two men were captured on video inside the Northeast Philadelphia store. One man, later identified as Kevin Turner, was fatally shot by Glatz. Witnesses identified the second suspect as a Black man of slight build, about 5 feet, 7 inches or 5 feet, 8 inches tall.
A jailhouse informant led police to 6-foot-3-inch Onyiah, who prosecutors said was coerced into a confession.
The District Attorney’s Office claims the difference in height is exonerating evidence, and that, along with evidence of misconduct, should free Onyiah.
Judge Tracy Broads-Roman agreed and vacated the conviction. The Glatz family declined to attend the hearing.
Thirty-eight-year-old Onyiah is the 19th person to be exonerated in Philadelphia since 2018. He remains in custody for a sentence from an unrelated 2015 robbery conviction.
Related
