Wrongfully Convicted Man Says Faith in God Carried Him Through After Decades in Prison

One man who spent 32 years in prison for a crime he did not commit is finally exonerated.

Joaquin Ciria was arrested and convicted for shooting and killing his friend in 1990, according to ABC News.

“My biggest fear was to die in prison not fighting,” Ciria told KPIX-TV.

Ciria shared what being in prison for a crime he did not commit was like.

“I remember every night I go to cover myself with the blanket and I go to close my eyes real tight and I say you know what this is a dream. When I open my eyes I’m going to be home. This cannot be happening to me,” he said.

Ciria said that he kept repeating this to himself but every time he opened his eyes he was still in the cell.

Over the years, Ciria saw other prisoners, who he believed were also wrongfully convicted, end up losing their minds.

“They started talking by themselves. They walking in the yard and they don’t even know who they are no more. I know that for a fact,” he shared.

Ciria was determined to not “end in that way,” for the sake of his family and for his son.

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Ciria said “it was unbelievable” hearing the judge tell him he was a free man.

“You cannot describe that feeling. You know for me to describe that feeling to you it is no words,” he explained.

He said it was like “being born again” and like “your whole life has started again.”

God tells us in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Ciria said his faith in God is what carried him through all these years and he isn’t angry at anyone, according to KPIX-TV.

“Frustrated yeah. But angry, angry not anymore,” he said.

Ciria said he knows he has an obligation to tell his story and explain to people how he made it and got all the way to the end without losing his mind.