MIAMI – A man who was a teenager when he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering the wife of a Coconut Grove ice cream truck driver in July 1971 is now free.
Prince Albert Johnson, 60, was in a Miami-Dade County courtroom Friday as Judge Richard Hersch declared that he should be released from prison.
"I want to thank my lawyer right now," Johnson told Local 10 News after his release. "I want to thank everybody that was on their team. I want to thank the judge and everybody, and I want to thank my family."
In November 1971, Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Marta Roman, a 47-year-old woman who was sitting alone in her husband's parked ice cream truck. Johnson was 16 at the time.
During the trial, witnesses said they heard a gunshot and saw two boys -- one of them carrying a box -- running away from the truck. Police said Johnson's fingerprints were on the box, which contained $28.
After 44 years in prison, Johnson was granted a reprieve as a result of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that makes it unconstitutional to impose a life sentence on a defendant who was a juvenile at the time of the crime.
Johnson was released from prison later in the afternoon. He told Local 10 that he never doubted the day would come when he would be released.
"That's why I'm still living," Johnson said.
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