A dad-of-six who spent 25 years rotting in a death row jail cell was tragically shot at a funeral on Friday - less than two years after his exoneration.
Christopher Williams, 62, was shot in the head as he got out of a vehicle after a funeral procession in North Philadelphia.
Mr Williams was paying his respects after the passing of Tyree Little, another man formerly calling the US prison system his home.
As he stepped out of the vehicle at Mount Peace cemetery, an unidentified suspect who remains at large, put a bullet in his head.
Paramedics rushed him to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mr Williams was convicted alongside a defendant with evidence gathered from a jailhouse snitch.
The informant told cops the pair had murdered two people while in prison in 1989, but it was later discovered that his testimony was false and that evidence had been suppressed.
Following his release, he told the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Never in the history of the Pennsylvania judicial system has someone been charged with six murders, acquitted of two and now exonerated of four.”
Theophalis “Bilal” Wilson, his co-defendent and family friend, spent three decades in prison.
The prosecutors at their trial said the duo were in a gang that killed three New York drug pushers.
After the fatal shooting of his pal, Wilson made a point of mentioning the plight of exonerated former cons.
He said: “Although we’re actually innocent, not everyone believes it.
“I spent 28 years in jail for knowing him. I have to be on guard.”
It comes as formerly convicted prisoners take up civil action against the states that sentenced them.
Pennsylvania is one of a small number of states that don't give compensation if people are wrongly convicted.
Despite the law, Philadelphia has compensated some high profile cases, including Williams, with as much as $10million.
Terrance Lewis, another recent exoneree, said Williams was a trooper and “champion for justice.”
“He was still learning how to give back. His life just began, and it was taken from him.”
