Murder charges dropped after 15 years

The Cook County state’s attorney has vacated the murder conviction of a man who has been incarcerated since 1997.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said Thursday that she decided to vacate the conviction of 37-year-old Alprentiss Nash after a “comprehensive investigation.” Nash was sentenced to 80 years in prison on the charges in connection with the 1995 death of a Chicago man on the city’s South Side.

Alvarez said her office decided it didn’t have sufficient evidence to sustain the murder charge after new DNA evidence was revealed.

Alvarez’s office says Nash’s case is the first murder conviction to be overturned since prosecutors created a Conviction Integrity Unit in February. The unit is meant to review questionable prosecutions.