A An illinois man spent more than 30 years in prison for a A crime he did not commit He was acquitted Only recently Before Thanksgiving celebration. In the second week of November, the First Judicial Circuit Court of Alexander County convened Murder charges were dropped Opposite Danny Daviswho is now 53 years old.
On November 12, 2025, the authorities made the final decision Charges against Davis droppedfrom He remained in prison Since 1992. That year he was convicted A woman was murdered and robbed in Cairo, Illinois. The process witnessed a series of violations discovered in the past decade.
After he was acquitted, a year later He was released after his conviction was overturned, and ordered dinner at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse From ChicagoMonday night. He said in statements quoted by him: “I ate a huge steak.” CBS News. The place chosen is not accidental: His idol is Michael Jordan. “I was in prison during his second tournament,” he recalls.
His case was originally expected to return to trial next month, but the Public Prosecution They filed a motion to dismiss it entirely in early November.. “I knew that Someday we will get to that point. “We didn’t know how long it would take,” he added.
In 1992, Mildred Smith was found dead in her homewhere he ran a small neighborhood store. He was He was stabbed 38 times. Days after his death, police officers Isaac Davis, 17, and his brother Danny were arrestedwho was 20 years old at the time, To interrogate them.
According to Innocence Projectafter Hours of both psychological and physical abuse They agreed to plead guilty. In the court document, they also implicated an unknown person named Devo Johnson.
“They said:”If you go to court, Danny will receive the death penalty and die‘. “They were under jury selection, and they put him in a room and threatened them,” said Davis’ attorney, Lauren Myerscoff-Mueller, of the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School.
In his guilty plea before the judge, Danny admitted: “I just want to live. That’s the only reason I do it“So, it was He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
In 2015, the Illinois Innocence Project took on the case. Lawyers They filed a lawsuit to obtain DNA evidence And they got Information that was not turned over to the defense During the original investigation.
finally, Tests identified male DNA Under the fingernails of the victim who tried to defend himself from his attacker. That genetic material didn’t match One of Danny, Isaac or Johnson who were excluded from the case.
Years later, in 2024, the court overturned the convictions and Release order Danny. “There is nothing else connecting them. “There is no forensic evidence linking them to the crime, no eyewitnesses, nothing like that,” Mirskov-Mueller said.
At the age of 53 years, Danny spent more time in prison than he did free. Last Tuesday, he was visited by Jimmy Soto, Darren Harris and Robert Johnson, three men in similar situations. In general, They have been behind bars for more than 115 years Before they can clear their names.
Looking at his future away from prison, he stressed that he is ready to make up for lost time with his family, and expressed: “Now I don’t take anything for granted in life. I’m enjoying every moment as much as I can“May God give me the strength to do this.”