Wrongly-Convicted Dad Who Spent 25 Years On Death Row Slain At Philadelphia Funeral

A Philadelphia father who spent almost 30 years in prison for a crime didn't commit was shot and killed at a funeral last week, authorities say.

Christopher Williams, a Philadelphia dad who spent 25 years on death row for crimes he didn't commit, was shot and killed at a funeral Friday. He was 62.
Photo Credit: *Philadelphia District Attorney's Office*

Mac Bullock

12/22/2022 1:10 p.m.

Christopher Williams, 62, was shot in the head on the 3000 block of West Lehigh Avenue in Strawberry Mansion at about 2:20 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, city police told Daily Voice.

Medics rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead before 2:30 p.m., officials added.

No arrests have been made and no weapon was recovered at the scene, but an investigation is ongoing, detectives said. The apparent motive is officially unknown.

Williams, a father of six, spent 25 on death row in a Pennsylvania state prison for four 1989 murders, but was officially exonerated in February 2021 and released, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

He and a codefendant, Theophalis “Bilal” Wilson, were implicated in the 1989 slayings when another man facing criminal charges falsely named them as the killers to receive a lessened sentence, the newspaper wrote.

Wilson, who was reportedly close with Williams and who was also eventually exonerated and released, told the Inquirer he is troubled by his friend's murder.

“I spent 28 years in jail for knowing him,” Wilson told reporters. “I have to be on guard.”

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