Man is released from prison after serving 29 years for murder he didn’t commit
In the summer of 1992, Eric Riddick was 22 years old when he was convicted of first-degree murder in the November 1991 shooting death of his friend, William Catlett.
The conviction was largely based on the testimony of Shawn Stevenson, an eyewitness who told police four different accounts of what he saw but eventually named Riddick as the shooter in his last statement, according to previous appeals cited by The Associated Press. The eyewitness also said Riddick was on a balcony shooting down at Catlett, however, forensic evidence showed the shots were fired in an upward direction, according to an appeal filed by Riddick.
Stevenson later recanted his testimony in a 1999 affidavit, claiming he was coerced by Philadelphia police to name Riddick
