A man spent almost twenty years in prison for murder.
After his identical twin brother admitted that he committed the crime, Kevin Dugar was released from the Cook County Jail, in Chicago, on Tuesday evening.
In 2003, Dugar was found guilty of shooting and killing a rival gang member. A survivor of the shooting and another witness had identified Dugar as the assailant. Dugar then took the fall for his brother.
However, in 2016, his twin brother, Karl Smith, told police that he was the actual shooter. Two years after that, a judge decided that Smith wasn’t telling the truth and didn’t give his twin a new trial.
At the same time, Smith was locked up after receiving a 99-year sentence for breaking into a home where a young girl was shot in the head. Prosecutors said back then that Smith had “nothing to lose,” and he wasn’t certain if his twin’s sudden confession was true.
The case was recently sent to the Court of Appeals, and it was found that a jury mind find Kevin innocent if presented with all of the evidence.
Kevin’s lawyers hope that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office will look at everything and drop the case completely.
As part of his release, Dugar will reside in a transitional living facility.
