KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two Kansas City, Kansas, men incarcerated for years will walk free after a judge ruled they received unfair trials and overturned their convictions.
Cedric Warren and Dominic Moore had been in custody with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Warren, who was previously convicted in a 2009 double homicide, left the Wyandotte County Detention Center Wednesday afternoon.
He was being held there while it was determined if his case would be retried following the judge's decision.
Lawyers for Moore, who was also previously convicted in the same incident, confirmed to KSHB 41's Rachel Henderson he left the El Dorado Correctional Facility on Wednesday.
"We are really thrilled today," said Cheryl Pilate, one of the attorneys representing Warren. "The skies outside may be gray, but it feels like sunshine in here. We’re just ecstatic."
In 2016, the pair were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
They had been accused of killing 21-year-old Charles Ford and 26-year-old Larry Ledoux in 2009.
In Wyandotte County Judge Aaron Roberts' decision to overturn the convictions, he said prosecutors didn't turn over information about mental health issues a witness in the case suffered from.
The key witness, who had schizophrenia, gave accounts on the shooting that shifted, according to the Associated Press.
"The trial was not fair — we’ve been saying that since Day 1," said Brittany Robinson, Warren's cousin, who was joined by dozens of family members at the Wyandotte County Courthouse on Wednesday. "So we’re just glad that the innocence project stepped in and gave us another chance, and now my cousin’s coming home."
Despite having dozens of family members there, Warren's mother, Kathy Warren, and sister, Karissa Warren, both passed away while he was incarcerated.
"It’s sad that his mom and his sister’s not going to be here to enjoy it with us, but you know, my son’s overwhelmed right now," said Cedric Toney, Warren's father, who walked beside Warren as he left the detention center Wednesday. "First thing he said he wanted to do was go to the cemetery and visit his mom and his sister, so that’s probably where he’s on his way right now."
Warren and Moore were allowed to walk free after Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced in a press conference he wouldn't retry their cases.
"What the previous administration did, was indeed improper; it was a foul strike," Dupree said. "And yet, another stain on the criminal justice if the right people do not do the right thing."
Dupree said Brady Violations were found by Roberts while reviewing their cases.
"Warren and Moore, did not, under the previous administration, receive a fair trial," he said. "Their due process right that are guaranteed under the US Constitution in the state of Kansas was got given. Because of this Brady Violation finding, made by the judge, my office will not retry these cases."
Dupree stated that because Roberts didn't weigh in on Warren and Moore's innocence, their release isn't considered an exoneration.
Dupree confirmed his office is still working to digitize cases for Roger Golubski, the disgraced former KCKPD detective who died last week.
Though Golubski was not a detective on these cases, he was a captain in the department at the time.
"It is absolutely not the last one," Pilate said about the cases left to be re-evaluated after Golubski's death. "Roger Golubksi was a very powerful figure who was involved in more cases than I can even count. Sometimes he was involved in cases where his name doesn’t even appear."
His family agrees this is only the beginning for seeking justice for families like theirs in Wyandotte County, but they're celebrating in the near future.
"We finally get a little bit of happy relief and keep fighting, but it is hopefully this’ll open up the eyes to the powers at be and they’ll start making a change for the better," Robinson said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.