Wrongfully Convicted Man Freed After 35 Years in Illinois Prison

New evidence exonerates Brian Beals in second-longest wrongful imprisonment in state history

Brian Beals, wrongfully convicted in the 1988 murder of a 6-year-old boy, was released after 35 years in prison following the vacating of his conviction by a Cook County court.
Beals, a college athlete studying to be a police officer at the time of his arrest, was identified as the shooter by the victim's mother, despite not being shown any line-ups or photographs.
New evidence includes statements from five additional witnesses affirming that Beals was the intended target, not the perpetrator, and photographic enhancement of police images revealed bullet holes in Beals' car.
The Illinois Innocence Project, involved in the case, called the exoneration the second-longest wrongful imprisonment in Illinois history.
Beals' wrongful conviction represents a grave miscarriage of justice not only for him but also for the victim and their family, who have been denied true justice for decades, according to the state attorney’s office.