• The Illinois Innocence Project based at the University of Illinois Springfield assisted with the case.
• Jerry Herrington was convicted in the 1991 murder in Chicago.
• Two witnesses have come forward to identify the perpetrator in the case.

A Chicago man who spent nearly three decades in prison after being convicted of murder as a teenager was fully exonerated by a Cook County judge on Tuesday.

Jerry Herrington was represented by the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) based at the University of Illinois Springfield.

The project was founded at the university in 2001 and has brought freedom to 27 individuals in the state, according to a news release.

More: Illinois Innocence Project founder sees students’ lives ‘changed by this work’

Herrington, 45, completed his prison sentence in 2020.

Tuesday’s decision by Judge Alfredo Maldonado came with an agreement from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

It meant that Herrington’s murder conviction had been vacated and all charges dismissed.

Herrington was represented in court by senior staff attorney Leanne Beyer; legal director Lauren Kaeseberg and staff attorney Brandon Klages, all from the IIP. IIP senior staff investigator Lynn Bagley provided critical investigation in the case.

Herrington was 16 when he was accused of shooting a woman in Chicago in 1991.

According to the release, evidence showed that Chicago Police officers “punched and slapped” Herrington while he was detained and denied his request to call relatives.

Officers said that Herrington had verbally confessed to the shooting although he never signed a written confession, and no recording of the interrogation was made. Herrington maintained he didn’t offer a confession.

A 16-year-old informant claimed to have witnessed the shooting, but the first and only time he identified Herrington as the culprit was from the witness stand.

Two new credible witnesses have come forward, stating they saw the shooting and knew the identity of the real perpetrator but were afraid to say anything at the time of the shooting.

Officers who investigated this case and abused Herrington are now the subject of numerous allegations regarding systematic misconduct and abuse, as well as fabricated evidence, according to the release.

“Jerry was just a child when he was wrongfully imprisoned,” Beyer said. “He and his family are overjoyed about his exoneration. Their journey through the justice system has taken way too long. We appreciate the efforts made by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to investigate this case and for their willingness to right this wrong after more than three decades.”

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.