After spending nearly 29 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, Robert Johnson was released Thursday feeling “amazing” and looking forward to a home-cooked meal.
He was 16 years old in 1996 when police took him from his grandmother’s South Side home without her permission. Johnson never confessed to any crime, but police coerced two teenage boys — co-defendants — into implicating him. He was convicted of murder, home invasion and armed robbery in the April 14, 1996, killing and robbery of Eddie “Jay” Binion and sentenced to 80 years in prison.
Recent evidence indicated Johnson’s innocence, including recantations from the co-defendants and an alternative suspect who admitted to committing the murder before his own death in 2018.
“I didn’t think this day was going to happen,” Johnson, 45, said outside Cook County Jail after a judge vacated his conviction earlier Thursday.
“They had me in that cage for 28 years and 10 months for something I had nothing to do with,” he said. “I’m just thankful that we got in front of a judge that was honorable and that was fair and finally put an end to this nightmare, this hell on earth that I’ve been dealing with since I was 16 years old.”
The day after Binion’s slaying, police arrested one of Johnson’s friends, who pointed police to two other people, one of whom — coerced by police — led police to Johnson.
Johnson was arrested two days after the shooting. His grandmother, Mary Robinson, had initially refused to let them in, but police hurried Johnson out of the house when she went to the bathroom.
“They took him out and didn’t make it back, but I praised God and I kept on lifting him up. I didn’t give up hope,” Robinson said Thursday.
“I’m 92. I’ll be 93 in March. God’s been good, he brought him home,” she said, before giving Johnson a long hug.
Johnson said he had lost faith and dealt with many ups and downs while in prison, but he stayed positive due to his family’s support. He moved in with his grandmother at 10 years old and the two continued to talk throughout his prison sentence.
“She used to always say, ‘Robert, I hope I’m here with you when you get out.’ And I used to always say, ‘Grandma, don’t say that. You’re going to be here,’ and, man, she was here,” Johnson said.
While serving his sentence at Menard Correctional Center downstate, Johnson earned his GED and completed 46 credits toward an associate’s degree.
He said he plans to raise awareness of other people in prison for crimes they say they didn’t commit.
“There are a lot of people in prison for things they didn’t do. … The public, it’s like they see it on the news, but it’s like they don’t relate to it, for some reason they don’t understand it is a reality,” he said.
But first, he wants to reconnect with his family and enjoy some food by Robinson; one of his favorites is her corn cakes.
“The food in prison, I’m sure you all know, is horrible,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I miss my grandma’s cooking.”
The Invisible Institute contributed.