Devon Ayers
(New York Times)
Case Details
Served: 18 years
Year of Exoneration: 2013
Year of Conviction: 1997
Sentence: 25 to life
Conviction: Murder
County: Bronx
Devon Ayers was wrongfully convicted and exonerated of two separate murders. He was fully exonerated by EXI in 2013, after serving 18 years. At the time of his conviction, Ayers was a teenage father who was trying to turn his life around. Prosecutors in Devon’s case relied on false witness statements. He was exonerated and released based on confessions from the true killers, who admitted to federal investigators that they had committed one of the murders. Devon's exoneration was also based on a security video which showed that a key witness against him had lied at his trial. According to the New York Times, Ayers’ case showed “...a colossal breakdown in the criminal justice system.”
Ayers’ hardest day in prison was the day his grandmother died: "To this day, I still feel alone in this world without my grandma.” About being released after 18 years, Ayers said: "You know what the first thing that I really enjoyed doing when I came home was? Are you ready for this? Taking out the garbage.”
