Prosecutors Dropping Murder Charges Against Man Jailed For 17 Years
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez will dismiss criminal charges against a Chicago man in a 17-year-old murder case, her office announced Thursday.
The case involves Alprentiss Nash, 37, who has been incarcerated since 1997 when he was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the robbery and murder of Lion Stroud at a home in 1995 on the city's South Side.
A ski mask allegedly used during the crime was found near the scene, according to the Chicago Tribune. After a judge ordered DNA testing on the mask, it was determined the DNA matched another man.
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Nash's attorney Kathleen Zellner said they had been going back on forth with the state's attorney's office on the DNA testing issue.
"When we got the first results, it was very exciting, but then he wasn't released," Zellner said. "We kept debating with them about what the results meant."
The Nash case marks the first murder conviction to be overturned by Alvarez since she announced creation of the first-ever Conviction Integrity Unit earlier this year.
Alvarez will provide more details at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Zellner hopes to tell Nash the news in a phone call later today and she expects he could be released from the Menard Correctional Center later today or tomorrow.
"He's going to be really surprised," Zellner said. "The first thing he wants to do is get out and see his mother and then he promised to bake a cake for me."
