By Jim Salter -
The Associated Press
ST.
LOUIS, Missouri.
— A Missouri judge Tuesday vacated the conviction of a man who has served nearly 28 years of a life sentence for a murder he has always claimed he did not commit.
Judge David Mason's decision could lead to the release of Lamar Johnson.
St. Louis District Attorney Kim Gardner filed a petition in August seeking Johnson's release, which led to a December hearing before Mason.
The Missouri prosecutor's office argued at the hearing that Johnson should remain in prison.
[Life imprisonment for three relatives for the murder of a security guard in Michigan after arguing over a mask]
Johnson, now 50, was convicted in 1994 of the shooting that killed Marcus Boyd.
Police and the prosecutor's office attributed the murder to a dispute over drug money.
From the beginning, Johnson maintained his innocence, saying that he was with his girlfriend miles (kilometers) away when the crime took place.
Lamar Johnson, center, and his attorneys react Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after his murder conviction was vacated by St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason during a hearing in St. Louis, Missouri.Christian Gooden / PA
Gardner said an investigation by her office with support from the Innocence Project convinced her that Johnson was telling the truth.
Boyd was shot to death on his driveway by two men wearing ski masks on October 30, 1994. While Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, a second suspect, Phil Campbell, pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence reduced to seven years in prison.
Johnson testified at the December hearing that he was with his girlfriend the night of the crime, except for a few minutes when he left a friend's house to sell drugs on a corner several blocks from where the victim was murdered.