After spending half of his life in prison, Kwame Ajamu was exonerated on Tuesday for a crime he did not commit. Back in 1975, 17-year-old Ajamu was sent to prison for the death of a Cleveland money-order salesman, Harold Franks. Along with Ajamu, formerly known as Ronnie Bridgeman, 20-year-old Wiley Bridgeman and 19-year-old Ricky Jackson were wrongfully accused.
Eddie Vernon supposedly saw the death of the salesman, which was committed with acid and a gun. Vernon was the main witness and was 12 at the time.
Brothers Ajamu and Bridgeman as well as Jackson, were originally sentenced to death, but due to an error in paperwork. Although Ajamu was released from prison in 2003, Bridgeman and Jackson were released just last month.
When Cuyahoga County Judge Pamela Barker dropped all the charges against Ajamu, the 56-year-old began weeping. His attorneys as well as the judge gave him a warm embrace to comfort him.
"I'm so happy today that this battle had come to an end," said Ajamu.
The alleged evidence against the men quickly unraveled after Vernon recanted his testimony last month. Vernon, just a boy at the time, admitted to not having seen the actual crime take place. He was on a bus during the time of the crime and had only heard a gun shot. Vernon claimed to have testified believing it was the "right thing to do" at the time.
Ricky Jackson (58) spent 39 years in prison until he was freed last month. This is the longest period of time an individual in Ohio was incarcerated before being exonerated.
The decades spent in prison are now over.
"We were robbed. There will be no offspring when I die. When my brother passes away, that is it. We don't have children. There will never be another Ronnie Bridgeman. The important part is that we have been united while we are standing forward and upward and that we are not looking at each other in the graveyard," Ajamu told the Plain Dealer.
Ajamu, however, does not hold a grudge against Vernon for the wrongful testimony.
"I would say, "I'm not angry with you,'" Ajamu said. "I didn't believe Edward had any malice. He was a kid who got caught up in the wrong thing."
The three exonerated men can be compensated a total of $4.1 million for the wrongful charges. Ohio state law claims that for every year of imprisonment before exoneration, one can receive more than $40,000 in compensation.
