'Free at last': Man released after being wrongfully convicted, imprisoned for nearly 30 years

It was perhaps the most fanfare anyone has ever received walking across a street to Philadelphia's City Hall.

A crowd of people cheered and clapped to see Eric Riddick take those steps across the street. They were among the first steps he's taken as a free man in nearly 30 years.

"Free at last! Free at last," shouted Christine Riddick while holding on tightly to her 51-year-old son. "Thank God almighty! My son is free at last!"

Friday morning, Riddick and his lawyers attended a hearing that overturned his conviction for a 1991 murder in Southwest Philadelphia.

William Catlett, a friend of Riddick's died in the shooting.

Riddick's legal team argued that he was two blocks away from the shooting when it happened.
#wrongfulconviction

[suheilaknio]

May God bless you and your family in happiness and good health 🙏

[swampmagiclouisiana]

I hope he gets a full pardon and breathes fresh free air and is blessed for the rest of his life For his Mama? God Love her, she has her child back

[Olivia-copg]

Mr. Oatmeal (?), the prisoner who got out first was very nice to help Mr. Riddick, believing Riddick to be innocent. I still have to wonder that the judicial system changed his conviction to third-degree murder when Riddick always admitted he was one of two men shooting his friend to death. I absolutely do not approve of what the older criminals taught him about semantics. Black culture says the correct words for murderer and drug-pusher are "father" and "businessman." I guess Mr. Riddick really summed it up with, "We used to be the virus of violence. So, what do you do when a virus becomes the anecdote?" So, Mr. Riddick married his wife, Dana, about a decade ago? Do they have babies? What is that old saying about the patients taking over the insane asylum?

[luisl]

Its good to see the falsely accused freed.

[zippydoo]

If he is innocent it's sad he spent so much time in prison. I don't know the details of this case but I'm wondering if his sentence was overturned due to a technicality found during an appeal or possibly prosecution misconduct? These cases are not usually as simple as an innocent man was put behind bars. It is true that it's better to free 100 guilty people than to find 1 innocent person guilty. If this man is innocent than I assume this is still an open case."Race and culture reporter"? 🤔

[leembreezy]

Shout-out to Meek💯....I hope he get a check from Philadelphia County @least 10 million for that precious time snatched away from him and his family 🚫😭🙏🙏🙏