Illinois judge overturns double-murder conviction of Chicago man following 34 years of imprisonment

close Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for August 29

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

A judge on Tuesday vacated the double-murder conviction of a Chicago man who has spent the last 34 years in prison for the shooting deaths of two 14-year-old boys.

Francisco Benitez, 52, maintained his innocence in a motion for post-conviction relief, saying he had an alibi for the April 28, 1989, slayings of Prudencio Cruz and William Sanchez and that he was being framed by Chicago police detectives.

Cook County Judge Sophia Atcherson made the ruling, citing evidence supporting Benitez’s innocence presented during a hearing earlier this year. She released Benitez on a personal recognizance bond with electronic monitoring.

JAMAICAN MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN PENNSYLVANIA COURT TO SWEEPSTAKES SCHEME THAT TARGETED ELDERLY AMERICANS

Francisco Benitez’s double-murder conviction has been overturned after a judge in Illinois ruled that evidence supported his innocence. (Fox News)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

However, Benitez still faces murder charges because prosecutors haven’t dropped the case.

“This has been a very, very long road, and I’m glad my son is coming home,” his mother, Betty Benitez, said.

“This is not normal,” said Joshua Tepfer, one of Benitez’s attorneys from the Exoneration Project, of the volume of overturned convictions in Cook County. “It’s an epidemic. It’s a human rights violation.”