CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A man who spent 26 years in prison for a murder conviction had his charge vacated on Friday.
David Lugo, formerly David Colon, left the courtroom hugging his attorney after a Cook County judge vacated a murder charge that he was arrested for in 1991 and later convicted.
“Overwhelming for me, I started tearing up. To hear it and be fighting for all these years is a great thing,” Lugo said.
After reviewing volumes of evidence on the case, the judge said that it is more than likely that witnesses in Lugo’s case were coerced by former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara into falsely identifying Lugo as the suspect.
“I’ve been through hell and back. I’m here because they’ve helped me. (I) got through the worst of 26 years,” Lugo added.
The help he referred to came from the Exoneration Project legal team who have helped several others just like Lugo. There have now been two dozen convictions found to be the product of Guevara’s misconduct and witness manipulation.
Lugo, who filed his first petition with the court in 1996, has become a union truck driver since being awarded parole in 2017. He said he plans to “relax, stay out of the way, and just enjoy the rest of his life.”
The next steps now for Lugo will be to seek that his conviction be overturned and that he receive a certificate of innocence.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
