Robert Johnson had been behind bars since he was a teenager. He was freed Thursday night after a jury overturned his murder conviction. There was no physical evidence or witnesses who tied Johnson to the 1996 murder of drug dealer Eddie Binion.

A man who was wrongly convicted of a 1996 murder was set to go free on Thursday. Robert Johnson was set to be let out of the Cook County Jail anytime after 4 p.m., after his conviction was vacated by a jury.

Robert Johnson was 16 years old when he was arrested in 1996 on charges of murder, home invasion and armed robbery and was sentenced to prison for 80 years. Now 45, he was released from prison Thursday after a judge vacated his conviction.