Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby dropped murder charges against Adnan Syed on Tuesday morning. Syed, now 41 years old, was released from prison on Sept. 19 after a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge vacated his conviction for the 1999 murder of his former high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. He served 23 years in prison.
Syed was 17 years old when Lee, a classmate at Woodlawn High School, was found dead. Syed was serving a life sentence in prison after two trials. Since then, prosecutors disclosed that DNA evidence collected and analyzed with new technology for the first time from Lee’s shoes did not match Syed. The investigation is still ongoing, Mosby said during a press conference.
"It's my duty to ensure justice is not delayed, justice is never denied, but justice be done,” Mosby said. “Today justice is done."
Mosby said her office’s investigation found that two other suspects could have been involved individually or worked together in the slaying.
The investigation fell under the office’s Sentencing Review Unit in which prosecutors review and can seek to modify sentences for juvenile offenders they consider excessive. modify excessive sentences for juveniles with life sentences in the adult prison population.
Syed’s case garnered international attention from the true crime podcast “Serial.”
Attorney Steve Kelly, who represents the Lee family, released a statement about the decision.
“The family received no notice and their attorney was offered no opportunity to be present at the proceeding,” Kelly said. “By rushing to dismiss the criminal charges, the State’s Attorney’s Office sought to silence Hae Min Lee’s family. All this family ever wanted was answers and a voice. Today’s actions robbed them of both.”
Syed’s attorney Erica Suter, who heads up the Innocence Project in Maryland, said today is the day that her client and his family have been waiting for for 23 years.
“The results of the DNA testing exclude Adnan and confirm what Adnan and his supporters have always known. Adnan Syed is innocent. The State of Maryland has dropped the charges, Adnan Syed is free,” she said.
Suter extended her sympathies to the family of Lee.
“We offer our deepest sympathy to the family of Hae Min Lee and we join in the hopes that an investigation will bring them real answers and a sense of closure,” she said.
Syed was not present at the press conference.
Suter said she’ll work with Mosby to file his certification of innocence as soon as possible.
