Chicago Man Freed From Prison After Sentence Vacated In Illinois Teen's 1984 Death
UPDATE: 4:13 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 48-year-old Chicago area man has been freed from prison after 29 years - now that the Cook County State's Attorney has dropped the charges against him for the 1984 murder of a teenage girl.
At the center of this: the murder of 15-year-old Kristina Hickey of Park Forest.
Her body was found in the fall of 1984 - and another teenager, Christopher Abernathy, was arrested and then convicted - and sentenced to life in prison.
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says last year, DNA evidence showed Abernathy was not a match.
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So now, she says, the killer of Kristina Hickey has still not been identified.
"Kristina's mother and her family have lived through a nightmare, and they are probably suffering deeply again today as a result of my decision.
"But I cannot and I will not let a wrongful conviction stand. And in our assessment, Mr. Abernathy's conviction was just that."
Back in the '80s, Abernathy signed an admission of guilt - which Alvarez called "thin," since Abernathy has a dinished mental capacity.
Now Alvarez says - they'll try to find the real killer.
