After being wrongly imprisoned for a double-murder for the past 23 years, Lamonte McIntyre walked out of Wyandotte County Courthouse a free man Friday to cheers from family, friends, and supporters.
On Friday afternoon, just two days into what was expected to be a week-long hearing to consider McIntyre’s exoneration, the Wyandotte County Dustrict Attorney Mark Dupree Sr., shocked the courtroom, when he said the county would no longer contest the facts of McIntyre’s innocence.
The courtroom erupted in simultaneous shock and joy. Lamonte McIntyre, wrongfully convicted in
1994 for a double-murder he never committed, wept at the defense table.
McIntyre, arrested at age 17, had spent the past 23 years behind bars as part of two life sentences on two counts of murder.
He is now 41. When McIntyre stepped from the north side of the Wyandotte County Courthouse and detention center on Friday afternoon, just before 4 p.m., his mother ran and then walked toward her son as he was swarmed by media.
“I’m all right. I’m happy, you know,” McIntyre said to reporters. “I’m here thanking God. I’m thanking everybody who supported me and been here for me. It feels good. I feel good. I’m happy.”
Then he saw his mother.
“This is what I’m waiting on right here,” he said, embracing his mother, Rosie McIntyre, who muttered, “Oh, my Lord.” He hugged his brother and others.
“We’re here. So that means support and love is active,” McIntyre continued. “I’m glad that everyone showed up out here to experience it with me. I appreciate it a great deal.”
Asked what he might want to do in his first few moments of freedom, McIntyre joked: “I thought I wanted to eat something, but my nerves are so shot I can’t even eat right now.
“I think I’m just going to take a bath and just chill for a minute, let it all soak in, I think. But whatever I’m going to do, I’m going to enjoy it. I’m excited. On the inside, I’m bubbling over. I feel emotional. It’s been a long time coming.”
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