Christopher Dunn is a free man.
After serving more than 30 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Dunn walked out of the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis on Tuesday — hours after Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore officially dropped the charges against him.
Dressed in a brown blazer and khaki slacks, Dunn walked out of the building and stood on the steps with his hands in his pockets. His wife, Kira Dunn, stood next to him.
Dunn didn't say a word at first and stood silent for a few seconds. Asked by reporters how he felt to be out of prison, he said simply "surreal."
With a smile on his face, Dunn then added: "Thank you, St. Louis, we did it. But it shouldn't have taken so long. Not 34 years."
He told reporters that he never gave up because his family never gave up.
“It’s easy to give up in prison when you lose hope," Dunn said. "But when the system choose[s] to throw you away, you have to ask yourself if you’re willing to just settle for it or you’re going to fight for it. I come from a strong family. I don’t know not how to fight. This is what we have done for the majority of our lives.
"And whether you want to believe it or not, everyone that’s in prison, there’s a chance for everyone. The thing is though, you can’t give up.
“Let their stories be heard,” he said. “Don’t give up on them. Give them a chance.”
Dunn then gave his mother, Martha Dunn, a long embrace before leaving the courthouse.
Dunn’s release came hours after the Missouri Supreme Court lifted an emergency order it issued last week that delayed a St. Louis judge's order that Dunn be released from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking on a request from Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
In their opinion, Supreme Court judges wrote that Bailey does not have the authority to hold an inmate in prison. They also wrote that for Dunn to be released, the circuit attorney had to follow proper procedure and drop the charges.
Dunn was transported to St. Louis City Circuit Court in the Carnahan Courthouse.
Last week, St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn's conviction in the 1990 murder of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers in the city's Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director at the Midwest Innocence Project, said his lawyers are thrilled that Dunn is reunited with his family after serving so much time for a crime he didn’t commit.
“We look forward to supporting Chris as he rebuilds his life,” Bushnell said. “But our joy in welcoming Chris home is tempered by the additional days and moments stolen from him by this week’s proceedings. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from all corners of the country over the past few days. As we all observed, that was not justice.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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