A Minnesota man who was behind bars for nearly two decades is on his way to see his mom after being released from prison Monday morning.
"Thank everybody for supporting me," Marvin Haynes said while leaving the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater, after a judge set aside his murder conviction for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop.
Haynes was 16 at the time of the killing. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says Haynes' release comes after prosecutors agreed Haynes had recently proven in court that his constitutional rights were violated during his 2005 trial for the killing of Randy Sherer, 55.
Cheers erupted outside the prison during his release around 11 a.m. local time. He briefly spoke to the media after hugging loved ones and taking photographs, maintaining his innocence, thanking the Great North Innocence Project for their assistance in his case, and saying he was happy to finally be able to "correct my narrative."
COURT TO RE-EXAMINE MINNESOTA MAN'S INSISTENCE OF WRONGFUL CONVICTION IN DEADLY FLOWER SHOP ROBBERY
Haynes, 36, was serving a life sentence for gunning down Sherer inside Jerry's Flower Shop in May 2004.
No physical evidence tied Haynes to the crime, and he did not match the physical description that witnesses provided to investigators. Several people who testified at his 2005 trial have since signed affidavits recanting their statements.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement to The Associated Press that a "terrible injustice" occurred when the state prosecuted Haynes.
"We inflicted harm on Mr. Haynes and his family, and also on Harry Sherer, the victim, his family, and the community," Moriarty said. "We cannot undo the trauma experienced by those impacted by this prosecution, but today we have taken a step toward righting this wrong."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
