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Terrance Lewis

exoneree 2,451

By Joshua Vaughn

October 2^nd, 2019

Terrance Lewis spent more than 21 years in prison after having been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole for a murder that occurred when he was 17 years old. Lewis was released in May.

He is one of 13 people exonerated in Philadelphia since Larry Krasner took office as district attorney in 2018. Lewis is also the 2,451st person to be exonerated in the United States.

In 1997, Lewis was arrested in connection with a 1996 robbery that resulted in the killing of a Philadelphia man. Prosecutors used faulty eyewitness testimony to convict Lewis, and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 1999.

In 2010, a federal judge wrote in an opinion that Lewis was most likely innocent based on new testimony from another witness who said he was not involved in the crime. However, Lewis was not released because the judge ruled that his petition for release failed on procedural grounds.

Nearly another decade passed before Lewis finally was exonerated and released from prison.

Lewis’s son Zahaire was born one month after his 1997 arrest. His wrongful conviction and decades of incarceration robbed the two of time together from Zahaire’s childhood through his college graduation.

But the two remain close.

”We have each other’s back,” Lewis said.

Lewis has not resided in Philadelphia for more than 21 years, and he joked that he allows himself to get lost while driving in order to relearn the roads and find his away around the place he called home as a child.

Pennsylvania is one of 15 states that do not provide compensation to exonerees. In June, Lewis sued the city of Philadelphia to remedy the damage wreaked by his wrongful conviction.

Lewis’ federal civil rights lawsuit alleges that Philadelphia Police Department detectives coerced a witness into identifying him as a suspect.

As of late September, Lewis was still without a home of his own. The trunk of his car remained packed full of his belongings to allow him to go from place to place as needed.

Lewis has become a more observant Muslim since he was incarcerated. He said he has not missed a daily prayer in many years.

Although Lewis remains positive, he said that his time in prison has taken a physical and mental toll on him. Simple tasks like ordering food at a restaurant make him physically anxious. Lewis said he spent so many years being told what he can eat and when he can eat that having a choice at mealtime can be overwhelming.

"People ask 'what do you want?'" Lewis said. "But I've been in prison for so long, how am I supposed to know?"

Lewis said he likes to go down to Philadelphia’s riverfront to reflect as a way to relax and deal with the stress of being outside prison.

Lewis is now an advocate for the wrongfully convicted, which has brought him new relationships with people like Karen Pollard-Brookins, whose husband John Brookins is serving life without parole in Pennsylvania.