DALLAS (AP) – A 38-year-old man incarcerated for the past 15 years for killing a teenager is free from prison after a judge in Dallas agreed with prosecutors that he’s actually innocent of the crime.
Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said Quintin Lee Alonzo was freed Wednesday after the judge agreed with a petition from prosecutors declaring him innocent in the 2001 death of Santos Gauna. The teen was killed when a fight broke out at a party celebrating his high school graduation.
The matter now goes to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a final determination.
Officials say an “exhaustive investigation” has corroborated a confession given by Licho Escamilla, who was executed in 2015 for the shooting death of an off-duty Dallas police officer.
Johnson’s conviction integrity unit began investigating the matter in 2015, when Escamilla confessed to unit investigators the day before his execution.
(Copyright 2018 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News. This Report Contains Material from the Associated Press)