Man Who Spent Nearly 30 Years In Prison After Being Wrongfully Convicted Is Shot And Killed

Last month, a man who served almost 30 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of several murders was fatally shot in Philadelphia. His relatives say that his killing came almost 2 years after he was freed.

On Dec.16, close to 2:20 p.m., Philadelphia police answered to a call in the 3000 block of West Leigh Avenue. This was in regards to someone with a gun. They then discovered Christopher Williams, 62, with a gunshot injury to his head.

Williams was transported to Temple University Hospital. He was declared deceased at 2:27 p.m. that day.

No one has been apprehended, and no weapon has been found.

Williams had been given a death sentence. This came after he and another man had been convicted of fatally shooting three men in Philadelphia on the same day.

Prior to that conviction, Williams had been given life in prison for a different conviction. This was for the murder of a man identified as Michael Haynesworth.

Two men had testified at trial. One of them had testified in order to receive a more lenient sentence in his own six murder cases. That person had connected Williams and Wilson to the killings.

In 2011, however, one of the men took his testimony back against Williams and Wilson. This was regarding the three killings in 1989. An expert also found that the three men had been killed where they were located based off blood evidence and how their bodies were positioned. Thus, that contradicted the two men’s testimony. They had stated that the three men died when they were thrown from a moving van.

Additionally, it was found that much of the evidence wasn’t shown in court and that the two men who testified against Williams had been induced to testify by the state.

Therefore, in 2019, Williams was exonerated of the three murders. Wilson was exonerated in January 2020.

Williams was still imprisoned, though, because of the Haynesworth conviction. When that case was reviewed, it was found that testimony against Williams didn’t match the physical evidence that was gathered.

On February 9, 2021, Williams was exonerated again. He had finally been released from prison after 29 years.

In December 2021, Williams filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit against Philadelphia police and others.

Williams is survived by his wife, five children, and multiple grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.