Marvin Winans and Archie Williams might make you shed a tear with this incredible, moving performance. Archie Williams was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. After 37 years, DNA tests set him free.
Archie Williams is a 58-year-old singer who is currently competing on season 15 of America’s Got Talent. Before his audition, Archie revealed to judges that he had spent more than 36 years of his life at a Louisiana State Penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit. Archie recently had the opportunity to perform at the legendary Apollo Theater. Now Archie performs on a even bigger stage, appearing on the season 15 premiere of America’s Got Talent. Before his performance, Archie said "I watched 'America's Got Talent' in prison and I would visualize myself there," "I always desired to be on a stage like this, and now I'm here." For his audition, Archie performed a moving rendition of Elton John’s "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."
“After almost four decades of pursuing justice, it took analysts mere hours to run fingerprints collected at the crime scene through a national database and find a match to the actual perpetrator of the crime,” the Innocence Project said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there are far too many people like Mr. Williams who are still imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. We at the Innocence Project are thankful that Mr. Williams’ exoneration and freedom give him the opportunity to share his tremendous talents with the world, and shed light on the systemic problem of wrongful convictions.”
“There are many innocent people at Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary)—guys who have served over 50 years. I’m happy to be cleared finally, but I’m not free until they are free,” Williams said at the time of his exoneration.