A Chicago man who spent more than a decade behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit was freed from prison two weeks after a judge overturned the conviction due to new evidence that undermined the prosecution’s case.
Darien Harris, who is Black, was convicted in 2014 for the June 2011 shooting death of Rondell Moore three years earlier at a gas station in the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
When he was arrested in 2011, Harris was 18 years old, a senior in high school, and had no criminal record, while his subsequent trial ended in a 76-year prison sentence.
He served 12 years before Cook County prosecutors announced this week that they had dropped all the charges, allowing Harris to walk free.
Now 30 years old and married, Harris went home for the holidays for first time in more than a decade.
Harris’ relatives celebrated as Harris walked out Cook County Jail earlier this week.
“I feel like I’m dreaming, it doesn’t feel real,” Harris’ mom, Nakesha Harris, told WGN9. “Once I hold him in my arms, it’ll be real,” adding: “This is the best Christmas gift ever.”
Harris smiled and expressed gratitude for the positive turn of events in his life.
“I lost a lot of things that no amount of money can repay,” he said at a press conference outside the lockup. “I’d rather take my time back because I’ve missed some of my best years.”
Now that he was free, Harris said the main thing he wanted to do was “have a family.”
Over the years, Harris’ family maintained his innocence, saying the young man was at home watching a basketball game at the time of the killing.
About five years after Harris was sent away, relatives learned that a key prosecution witness who identified Harris as the shooter was legally blind, leading to demands for Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx to throw out the conviction.
Soon, the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School joined the effort to free Harris, claiming the prosecution witness had advanced glaucoma and could see “nothing” when the shooting happened.
There was also never any physical evidence to link Harris to the crime, adding more pressure on Foxx to dismiss the charges, which she finally did earlier this week.
Prosecutors have not said whether they will retry Harris, but did indicate that Foxx’s office would continue to review the facts of the case.
