KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A local man freed after over two decades in prison says he wasn’t expecting that day to come this soon.
Lamonte McIntyre spoke to local media Saturday after a weekend with his family.
“First day out, I celebrate it with my family I was able to breathe and relax,” he says. “That felt nice. So much tension in a place, having this burden on you. I was able to relax just enjoy my family.”
McIntyre was released from prison Friday after Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree Sr. said the county would no longer contest the facts of McIntyre’s innocence during a hearing.
McIntyre’s mother, Rosie McIntyre, says she remembers the day Kansas City, Kan. police stopped by her house looking for her then 17-year-old son.
She says police told her they wanted to question McIntyre and it would only take a few minutes. Those few minutes turned into 23 years.
“He said ‘Mama, they're charging me with double murder’,” recalled Rosie McIntyre. “At that point, all hell broke loose.”
McIntyre was arrested and later sentenced to two life sentences for the 1994 deaths of Doniel Quinn and Donald Ewing, who were shot in broad daylight as they sat in a car in a drug-infested neighborhood.
Throughout the years, McIntyre insisted he was innocent.
The case against him never included a motive, gun, or physical evidence that tied him to the crime. All prosecutors had was eyewitness identification.
Last week’s hearing was expected to last several days. After only two days of reviewing forensic evidence, McIntyre’s case was dropped.
“I wasn't expecting that,” says McIntyre. “I figured it was coming soon because the truth is what the truth is. I never expected that day.”
LaMonte's legal team believes his case points to decades of cover-up in Kansas City, Kan.
They're hopeful his case will shed light on others who have been wrongly convicted.
