LaVone Hill shares his story after 22 years in prison for a wrongful conviction
(CBS DETROIT) — A 47-year-old Detroit man was released from prison last week after spending over 22 years behind bars because he was wrongfully convicted.
In 2001, LaVone Hill was convicted of fatally shooting two people following a dice game, and just a few months later he was sentenced to life in prison.
"It was some of the most horrible things that I could have ever experienced," Hill said, "so like I've seen stuff that I could never not take back from seeing. So that experience, I wouldn't wish that on anybody, honestly."
Hill was exonerated last week after it was found that a false witness statement sent him to prison for that double murder.
"It's overwhelming. I'm feeling great. I'm feeling excellent, you know, but I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed because I'm being pulled in a million different directions. I got a lot of family that wants to see me [and] friends," Hill said.
He says the love and support he's been feeling since his release has been enormous, especially from his kids.
"I knew my children loved me because I am their father, but I've been gone for 22 [years], but I never knew how much they love me until I got home and now they're just showering me," Hill said.
Now he plans on taking advantage of every day out of prison, helping others who have been in similar situations to his and his families.
"Start like this organization where I can not only give back to children of incarcerated parents but that I could have like a system in place for the hundreds of guys that are in there who are wrongfully convicted and wrongly incarcerated."
Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy says she will not be re-trying Hill in this case.
