BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A man who spent 24 years in prison was set free on Tuesday thanks to evidence of a Disney World vacation.
Jonathan Fleming, 51, was convicted in 1990 for the murder of Darryl "Black" Rush, who was found shot to death in August 1989.
Fleming and his family maintained he was in Orlando for a Disney World vacation when Rush was shot. However, a woman testified that she saw Fleming shoot Rush. Prosecutors argued he was in New York at the time of the shooting, despite defense attorneys producing plane tickets, videos and postcards.
When the district attorney's office began reevaluating the case, investigators discovered a receipt from an Orlando hotel that proved Fleming was in Central Florida hours before the shooting happened.
According to WCBS-TV, police had the receipt since 1989, when investigators pulled it out of his pocket during his arrest.
"I waited for this day to come, for this nightmare to be over," Fleming told WCBS-TV. "I have dreamt about this many nights."
Fleming's exoneration is the fourth by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in 2014.