JUDGE

Wrongly Convicted Philadelphia Man Freed After 21 Years

"It's just so surreal," Terrance Lewis said. "I'm still taking it in."

How do you celebrate freedom after spending 21 years behind bars for a crime you didn't commit?

If you're 40-year-old Terrance Lewis, joining you family for a surf-and-turf meal is about as good as it gets.

On Thursday, he walked out of a Chester County prison after a judge decided to review his case a day earlier. She ruled that he had been denied due process during his original trial, exonerating a man who thought he would never walk free again.

"It's just so surreal," he said. "I'm still taking it in."

Earlier on Thursday, Lewis took his first selfie ever. It was with his lawyer.

Lewis was arrested as a teenager in 1996 and charged with second-degree murder after a robbery gone wrong. He told NBC10 he wasn’t present during the robbery, but a witness claimed otherwise. At first, a witness identified another man, but that was never shared with his legal team or presented in court.

Despite the error, Lewis said he's not angry.

"As part as my faith, I do believe everything do happen for a reason," he said.

Instead, he plans to enjoy freedom and reconnect with his son, who was born one month after Lewis was sent to prison.

“I have learned what the true definition of resilience is," he said.

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