Man freed after serving 17 years for crime he did not commit

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri -- A Missouri man is free after spending nearly two decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

David Robinson's first taste of freedom came Monday night when he walked out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

A jury convicted Robinson in the 2000 shooting death of Sheila Box in southeast Missouri.

He remained behind bars even though another man confessed to the crime in 2004, according to one news report.

However, Robinson remained in prison.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley ordered his release after a Missouri Supreme Court ruling earlier this month.

Upon his release, Robinson said to KRCG-TV, "As Martin Luther King said, 'Free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last.' I'm free!"