John,

After 20 years, Rosa Jimenez was exonerated today when Austin Criminal District Court Judge Karen Sage granted the Travis County District Attorney’s motion to dismiss the 2003 murder charge against Rosa, based on her actual innocence.

Rosa was convicted of murder after a 21-month-old child she was babysitting choked on paper towels and died from related complications. In May 2023, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned her conviction, ruling it was based on false medical evidence. She had previously been released from prison in January 2021 following an evidentiary hearing in which top pediatric airway experts testified that the death at the center of the case was a tragic accident.

Please take a moment to read more about Rosa’s story and share the news of her exoneration with your friends and family online.

Para leer en español haz clic aquí.

“Rosa was the mom to a one-year-old girl and seven months pregnant when this ordeal began. She was forced to give birth to her son in jail, shackled, while awaiting trial. For the past 20 years, she has fought for this day, her freedom, and to be reunited with her children,” said Vanessa Potkin, the Innocence Project’s director of special litigation and Rosa’s attorney. 

During her incarceration, Rosa was diagnosed with kidney disease. Since 2021 she has been on dialysis and recently moved to New York where she is being evaluated by Weill Cornell Medical Center for a kidney transplant and is hoping to find a living donor.  

“The past 20 years I have been fighting for my freedom, my innocence, and my children. Now I have a second fight,” said Rosa. ”I want to have a long, healthy life with my family, who I waited so long to be with again. I want to see my grandchildren grow up. I have come so far, and I will keep fighting for as long as it takes.”

Read more on Rosa’s journey and spread the word about her story on social media.

Para leer en español haz clic aquí.