After spending over half a century behind bars for a crime he did not commit, 72-year-old Flint resident Horace Peterson has been released from prison, as confirmed by his family to ABC 12. Peterson, wrongfully convicted for the 1973 murder of music store employee Laurie Snyder, was present with the actual shooter, Nathaniel Porter – now known as Nathaniel Owusu, when the tragic event took place, Peterson had been given a life sentence despite not being the one to pull the trigger.
In a dramatic turn of events on May 13th, prosecutors and defense attorneys united in a joint petition leading to the acknowledgment of a long-standing miscarriage of justice; his original conviction was vacated and subsequently he entered a no-contest plea to a second-degree murder, according to information from mlive. This change was backed by the Michigan Supreme Court's recent ruling that individuals aged 19 and 20 convicted of first-degree murder could not be automatically sentenced to life without parole, a significant reshaping of prior sentencing standards.
Peterson's freedom comes too late for many missed milestones in his family's life such as his great-grandson's school performance and his grandson's graduation but in time for his daughter Onquette Woodyard's 55th birthday, as mlive detailed. He was released from the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility on Wednesday, and Peterson's daughter expressed her relief and joy, emphasizing the end of a long-strived battle to secure his release.
Despite the joyous outcome, Peterson reminded those gathered at the court about the victim Laurie Snyder; "I have a very passionate heart for Laurie, ... I wish her family the absolute best," Peterson stated in a courtroom moment captured by Black Enterprise.
