Judge vacates murder conviction of Chicago man wrongfully imprisoned for 35 years

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/ [login to see] /judge-vacates-murder-conviction-of-chicago-man-wrongfully-imprisoned-for-35-year
A Chicago man who spent 35 years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit was freed Tuesday after a judge vacated his conviction and dismissed all charges.

Brian Beals, 57, struggled to find the right words to describe his feelings as he stood outside Robinson Correctional Center in Crawford County, some 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of Chicago, and embraced his sister and niece.

"Relief, happiness, it was just amazing to walk out of there," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "I'm ready to begin life again."

Beals was convicted in the 1988 murder of 6-year-old Demetrius Campbell. At the time, Beals, a 22-year-old student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, was home in Chicago during Thanksgiving break. He was approached by a drug dealer and they argued, according to news accounts at the time. Attorneys say Beals got in his car and drove off. Bullets fired in Beals' direction hit two bystanders, the boy and his mother, Valerie Campbell.