Man, 62, exonerated in murder cases after 3 decades in prison, fatally shot in North Philly

Christopher Williams, a 62-year-old man who was exonerated in multiple murder cases after serving three decades in prison, was fatally shot Friday afternoon in North Philadelphia, police said.

Shortly before 2:20 p.m., Williams was on the 3000 block of Lehigh Avenue when he was shot once in the head. Police rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:47 p.m.

Police reported no arrests.

Williams was released from state prison in February 2021 after a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge tossed a final murder conviction based on evidence of prosecutorial misconduct brought forth by the District Attorney’s Office.

Williams and another man, Theophalis “Bilal” Wilson, had been charged in a 1989 triple slaying. Williams, who was 29 at the time, was charged with six murders in total. He spent 25 years of his sentence on death row.

Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman agreed to toss out the sixth and final murder, the shooting of 19-year-old Michael Haynesworth in 1989.

“Never in the history of the Pennsylvania judicial system has someone been charged with six murders, acquitted of two and now exonerated of four,” Williams said afterward.

Wilson was exonerated and released in 2020.

The District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed his case and reportedly found lying informants, prosecutorial misconduct, and hidden exculpatory evidence.

Williams filed a lawsuit last December in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, naming as defendants the city, former District Attorney Lynne Abraham, trial prosecutor David Desiderio, and 17 police detectives.

Troy Coulston, also convicted of murder in the Haynesworth case, was exonerated as well.

Williams was a married father of five children and had numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Staff writer Samantha Melamed contributed to this article.