Williams A Free Man After 21 Years

Reported by Julie Wolfe, Web Editor Michael King, 11Alive.com, January 23, 2007

After nearly 22 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit, Willie Pete Williams is back in Atlanta as a free man.

It was an emotional evening at the Fulton County Jail with tears, hugs, and shouts of joy.

Pete Williams raises his arms in triumph as he leaves the Fulton County Jail a free man.

Williams arrived at the Fulton County Jail by transport from the prison in south Georgia just after 9 p.m. He met with members of the Georgia Innocence Project, then was reunited with family and friends.

He spoke with reporters once he stepped outside, a free man.

“I can’t even explain it,” Williams said. “Not even in words. Fantastic.”

“What’s going through your mind right now,” asked one reporter.

“A bath,” Williams quipped. “I’ve took a shower for so long, that I want to take a bath first.”

“What about when you first laid eyes on your mom,” asked another reporter.

“I’m just glad she didn’t faint,” Williams said as he laughed.

He described the Georgia Innocence Project as, “Angels. All of them.”

Williams said he never lost faith. He said that God kept him going through the years.

After 21 years, eight months, Williams walked out of the Fulton County Jail as a free man.

He says that after a bath and a steak and potato dinner, he will start to rebuild his life. He says he wants to start working right away. Representatives of the Georgia Innocence Project are trying to convince him to take his time.

As he talked to the assembled media, he was gripped very tightly on one side by his sister, who was but a teenager when he went into jail. His mother was on his other side, with her hand around his waist, gripping him. She says she won’t let him go any time soon.