Chicago man cleared after 17 years in prison shot dead
By TAMMY WEBBER

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man who served 17 years in prison for murder before being cleared of the crime has been shot and killed almost three years after being released from prison, police said Wednesday.

Alprentiss Nash, 40, was fatally shot Tuesday after an argument during "a drug deal gone bad" between Nash and his attacker, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. He said a suspect was in custody and charges were pending Wednesday afternoon.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Nash died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Guglielmi said two weapons were recovered, one belonging to the suspect and the other to Nash.

Nash was convicted in the 1995 murder of Leon Stroud on Chicago's South Side, based on witness testimony, though he always professed his innocence. In 1997, he was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

He was released in August 2012 after DNA tests on a ski mask recovered from the scene matched the genetic profile of another man.

Nash later received a certificate of innocence and a settlement of more than $200,000 from the state. A federal civil rights case pending against the city of Chicago and the police department will continue on behalf of Nash's 22-year-old son, said attorney Kathleen Zellner, who helped free Nash.

Nash recently had talked about moving south, perhaps to Florida or Louisiana, because he no longer felt safe in Chicago, said Zellner and Nash's mother, Yvette Martin.

"He really just wanted to disappear and get out of here," because he was afraid he was being targeted for money, Zellner said.

Martin said her son had gone to culinary arts school and dreamed of opening a restaurant, but struggled to hold down a job because of his imprisonment. She said he also spoke of moving to Louisiana and buying cattle with some cousins once his civil case was settled.

"He jumped all those hurdles and then this happened," she said.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-30

talk about bad luck .... but it appears he didn't change his habits even after 17 years.

that 200k probably went right in his arm or lungs, unfortunately. another victim of the disease of addiction.

So he had 200k to tide himself over until a BIG payday from the civil case (and rightly so - 17 years is a long time), and STILL couldnt resist dodgy activities..??!

oxygen thieves: they're everywhere

Well at least he wasn't dealing for 17 years ... or maybe it's a career path that he fine-tuned while being "rehabilitated" in the prison system.

All drugs should be legal.

All drugs should be legal.

So should murdering drug dealers.

Wasn't innocent anyway . Guilty all the time .

If I was in prison for something I did not do for almost 20 years and had to return to society with few real friendships and no skills, I would probably turn to hard drugs too. He missed out on the most important part of his life.

If I was in prison for something I did not do for almost 20 years and had to return to society with few real friendships and no skills, I would probably turn to hard drugs too. He missed out on the most important part of his life.

You may well have the right slant on it, but what makes you so certain drugs weren't part of his scene BEFORE he went to jail? In fact, how certain are you he didn't have access to drugs IN prison?

He might have done drugs when he was young too, but I don't blame him for continuing the practice in jail or afterwards. Normally, I think hard drugs cause more problems that they solve, but if life is hopeless, why not?

He might have done drugs when he was young too, but I don't blame him for continuing the practice in jail or afterwards. Normally, I think hard drugs cause more problems that they solve, but if life is hopeless, why not?

Why not? I'd say the way this story ended for him provides at least one answer to that question...

talk about bad luck .... but it appears he didn't change his habits even after 17 years.

talk about bad luck .... but it appears he didn't change his habits even after 17 years.

I missed the part that said He was addict before.

I hope He was. If He picked the habit inside and now died for it...

If I was in prison for something I did not do for almost 20 years and had to return to society with few real friendships and no skills, I would probably turn to hard drugs too. He missed out on the most important part of his life.

at least there were lots of wonderful guns around to put him out of misery.....

talk about bad luck .... but it appears he didn't change his habits even after 17 years.

He was only an Alprentiss, after all. Not yet a veteran.