A Philadelphia man life jail decision was overruled and walked free after 25 years behind bars as DNA evidence proved he did not rape and murder his neighbor.
The 44-year-old was jailed when he was 20 years old, Anthony Wright, after he was convicted in the death of 77-year-old Louise Talley in the Nicetown neighborhood when authorities found her naked body on the floor of her home in October 1991.
After a DNA test, Wright’s sperm did not match the DNA of the sperm sample found at the scene when Talley had been raped and stabbed 10 times with a kitchen knife in the back, chest, and neck; another man had raped her.
The recent tests, in 2014, showed that Louise Talley was assaulted by Ronnie Byrd, a former crack addict from Nicetown 2014.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the man in the new tests, Byrd, has since died in prison in South Carolina at 62 years old.
Wright had initially told police he had taken money from Talley before killing her. He later took back his confession and said he had been coerced into giving it.
A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for less than two hours before declaring Wright not guilty on Tuesday.
Wright walked free a few hours later, surrounded by his relatives. His father, his 28-year-old son and his two granddaughters, 1 and 8 years old, witnessed his first moments as a free man.
‘I can’t even put it into words right now, man,’ Wright told The Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘It’s unbelievable. It’s the greatest day of my life.’
Wright’s mother has died. His 63-year-old father plans to take Wright to Florida, where he lives before Wright goes back to Philadelphia.