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Though this work can be difficult, we often see a lot of love in the cases we work on.
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John,
Here at the Innocence Project, we are perpetually in awe of our clients, who have persevered and overcome the horrors and injustices of wrongful conviction. When we’ve asked them how they made it through and still had the strength to start over, many of them have said: Love.
So today, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share some of the stories of how love helped our clients through the toughest of times and gave them the support they needed to rebuild their lives after being wrongfully convicted.
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 Kimberly and Stefon Morant. (Image: Stefon Morant)
He Didn’t Want a Relationship During His 75-Year Sentence, But She Was His ‘Key’
In 1994, Stefon Morant was wrongfully convicted of two murders that took place in New Haven, Connecticut, four years prior. He spent 21 years in prison until his release in 2015, but while incarcerated, he reconnected with his childhood sweetheart, Kimberly. They met in fifth grade when Kimberly was the new girl in school, and one day Stefon turned to her in class and asked, “Do you want to be my girlfriend?” And she said, “Yes.” But the next year, Stefon moved to the other side of town and started going to a different school and the two lost touch. In 2007, Kimberly came back into his life when she wrote to him in prison and asked if she could visit. She came every Friday and never looked back. The two were married 13 months later. Read more about Stefon and Kimberly’s love story and help spread their joy by sharing it with your friends and family online.
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 Kimya and John Nolley. (Image: Lisa Siegel)
‘Utopia’: An Exoneree’s Unexpected Love Story
Kimya Locke was in sixth grade and John Nolley in seventh when his family moved to the Riverside neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas, where she lived. She became close friends with his cousin and brother and would spend nights over at the Nolley house, though she and John were not particularly close. But that changed in 2016 when Kimya learned that John had just been released from prison after spending 19 years for a murder he did not commit. She reached out and began helping him rebuild his life post-wrongful conviction — and the two became inseparable. John said what stuck out to him was how comfortable he felt around Kimya, almost immediately, and her willingness to go above and beyond to be there for him. Learn more
about Kimya and John’s love story here, and share their story with your loved ones online.
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 Leroy and Gwen at an Innocence Project event in 2019. (Image: Franey Miller)
These Childhood Sweethearts Found Their Way Back Together After Wrongful Conviction Tore Them Apart
Leroy and Gwen Harris were childhood sweethearts. The two met in Brooklyn when they were kids and always liked each other, but they didn’t realize how much until they finally got together. They started dating in high school and quickly fell head over heels in love. After high school, Leroy and Gwen moved in together and had a daughter. But a few years later, in 1989, Leroy was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and was torn away from his family for nearly three decades. Gwen never gave up hope that he would get out, and on Nov. 21, 2017, Leroy was finally released. As soon as he walked free, he saw Gwen and the two hugged, kissed, and walked down the block hand in hand. One year later, Leroy and Gwen were married at City Hall. Leroy says that they are now “rekindling what was always there between us.” Take some time to read more about Gwen and Leroy’s love story today.
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 Angel and Lilliana. (Image: Lilliana)
After 21 Years of Wrongful Incarceration, There Was Only One Person He Wanted to Call
A few years before Angel Echavarria was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1996, he met his first love, Lilliana. Although they weren’t together during his wrongful incarceration, Lilliana was the first person Angel wanted to talk to when he was exonerated in 2015 with the help of the Committee for Public Counsel Services Innocence Program in Massachusetts. It didn’t take long for them to rekindle their love, and they were married soon after. Today, read what Lilliana had to say about their love.
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 Eddie and Louann Lowery. (Image: Lowery family)
How This Exoneree Found Love With His Elementary School Crush Decades Later
Eddie Lowery met Louann when they were in elementary school, but it wasn’t until decades later that they started dating. By then, Eddie had spent 21 years fighting for justice after being wrongfully convicted of rape, and he was finally exonerated in 2003 after DNA testing proved his innocence. Ten years later, he reconnected with Louann after he sent her a Facebook message out of the blue asking her to meet for lunch. To his surprise, she said yes, and as soon as Eddie saw her, he realized his feelings for her were still there. Read more from Eddie about their love story.
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