‘We Fought’: Emotional Reunion As New York Man Learned He Was Exonerated After Spending 23 Years In Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit

A celebrated criminal justice advocate who spent 23 years in a New York prison for a murder he did not commit has finally been exonerated. Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez was found guilty in the 1998 murder of retired police officer Albert Ward in Harlem. Ward was shot and killed after trying to stop an armed robbery at a gambling parlor he owned in Harlem. An emotional press conference for Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez and his family. (Video Screengrab) At the time, multiple eyewitnesses pinned the shooting death on then-22-year-old Velazquez, who was in the Bronx having a long phone conversation with his mother as the crime was happening. Phone records supported his alibi. Nonetheless, jurors found Velazquez guilty and he was sentenced to 25 years to life in Sing Sing prison. Several appeals failed in the years after his conviction, but national media began to highlight the holes in Velazquez’s case. His case was spotlighted by “West Wing” and “Apocalypse Now” star Martin Sheen in 2011 and featured on NBC’s “Dateline” in 2012. Former New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo approved Velazquez’s early release from prison in 2021. However, his criminal record still labeled him a convicted felon and he still had...