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<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>Philadelphia father-of-six Christopher Williams who spent 25 years on death row was shot dead while attending funeral on Friday</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>Williams, 62, was assassinated 22 months after he was exonerated and acquitted of six murder convictions dating back to 1989, but only after spending nearly 30 years in prison </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>He was killed before getting multi-million dollar payout </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>After his his release, Williams filed a lawsuit in Dec. 2021, naming the city, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham, trial prosecutor David Desiderio, and 17 police detectives </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>Williams was convicted of six murders, including one triple murder in 1989, but freed after three decades when his final murder charge was tossed because evidence of prosecutorial misconduct came to light </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>Cases all involved the same jailhouse informant </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2b2424;font-size:14px"><strong>Fellow exonerees after spending decades in prison, now <strong>concerned for their own safety </strong>said, &#8216;Although we&#8217;re actually innocent, not everyone believes it&#8217; </strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Christopher-Williams-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-425263" width="840" height="566"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Christopher Williams, 62, who spent 25 years on death row in Philadelphia was fatally shot while attending a funeral on Friday, less than two years after being acquitted and exonerated</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A 62-year-old Philadelphia man who spent 25 years on death row in Philadelphia was fatally shot while attending a funeral less than two years after being exonerated and acquitted of his crimes.<br>Christopher Williams, a father-of-six, was killed while attending the funeral of a fellow inmate on Friday afternoon, just 22 months after his release from state prison in February 2021.<br>Williams was convicted of six murders, including one triple murder in 1989, but freed after almost 30 years in prison when his final murder charge was tossed because evidence of prosecutorial misconduct came to light, all involving the same jailhouse informant.<br>In December 2021 he filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in Philadelphia, naming the city, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham, trial prosecutor David Desiderio, and 17 police detectives as defendants.<br>Since then his lawsuit remained pending.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Christopher-Williams-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-425266" width="845" height="913"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Christopher Williams [photo], was on death row for 25 years after he was convicted of six murders, including one triple murder in 1989, but freed after almost three decades in prison when evidence of prosecutorial misconduct came to light</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On Friday Williams was part of a funeral procession for formerly incarcerated friend Tyree Little in Philadelphia, his friends <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-exoneree-christopher-williams-fatal-shooting-funeral-20221220.html#loaded" target="_blank">told the Philadelphia Inquirer</a>.<br>As he stepped out of his car on the 3000 block of Lehigh Avenue at around 2.20pm he was shot once in the head. Police rushed him to Temple University Hospital but he was pronounced dead less than half an hour later.<br>Police are yet to arrest anyone for the murder and it is not yet clear why Williams was a target.<br>Williams spent his life between the age of 29 and 61 in prison &#8211; 25 of those on death row. He was freed when a District Attorney&#8217;s Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed his case and found lying informants, prosecutorial misconduct, and hidden exculpatory evidence.<br>The DA&#8217;s office later said in court that the case against him was &#8216;built on a house of cards,&#8217; involving incorrect informant testimony, extensive undisclosed evidence, and forensic evidence that directly contradicted an informant&#8217;s story. <br>&#8216;Never in the history of the Pennsylvania judicial system has someone been charged with six murders, acquitted of two and now exonerated of four,&#8217; Williams said upon his release.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Christopher-Williams-3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-425267" width="842" height="614"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Williams seen with Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, was working as a carpenter and had ambitions to start his own construction company, in December 2021 filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in Philadelphia against the city, former DA Lynne Abraham, trial prosecutor David Desiderio, and 17 police detectives. The case was pending by the time of his death on Dec 16</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Since his release Williams worked as a carpenter and had ambitions to start his own construction company, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He reportedly, had already accomplished some of his goals, which included buying a pickup truck and purchasing a house under his own name. <br>Pennsylvania is among a minority of states that do not offer compensation for wrongfully convicted people. However, Philadelphia has paid out close to $10 million to some like Williams who served 25 or more years in prison. <br>In December 2021 he filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in Philadelphia.<br>&#8216;What brings me happiness is my spirit being at peace, and right now it&#8217;s not,&#8217; he said in February.<br>&#8216;Out here, life is running a hundred times faster than up in that cage and you have to stay on pace or else,&#8217; he said.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Christopher-Williams-4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-425269" width="843" height="569"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Civil rights attorney Ben Crump [left], raises Williams&#8217; hand: &#8216;What brings me happiness is my spirit being at peace, and right now it&#8217;s not,&#8217; Williams said in February</strong></figcaption></figure>



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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Williams also spent much of his time as a free man reconnecting with the family members he had been separated from for so long.<br>His youngest son Christopher Hartwell said Williams had managed to maintain a relationship with him even while incarcerated.<br>He told the Inquirer of how his father recently asked for help with a carpentry job but later realized it had just been an excuse for them to spend time together.<br>&#8216;He was the man of the family even when he wasn&#8217;t here, when he was in jail,&#8217; said Hartwell. &#8216;He touched everybody he talked to.&#8217;<br>Williams&#8217;s death has left fellow exonerees concerned for their own safety, having spent decades in prison.<br>Theophalis &#8216;Bilal&#8217; Wilson, Williams&#8217;s co-defendant in the triple murder told the Inquirer: &#8216;Although we&#8217;re actually innocent, not everyone believes it.&#8217;<br>Prosecutors had accused Wilson of being in a gang with Williams, and helping him kill three drug dealers from New York.<br>“I spent 28 years in jail for knowing him,” Wilson said. <br>“I have to be on guard.”</p>

Philly man exonerated of six murders after 25 years on death row, shot dead attending a funeral, 22 months after his release – Christopher Williams’ suit against the city, DA, prosecutor and 17 cops was pending
