Richard Kwil exonerated after serving 23 years in Pontiac prison for murder he did not commit
Kwil is the 40th person to have their case dropped in connection to disgraced Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara
PONTIAC, Ill. (WLS) -- Richard Kwil left the Pontiac Correctional Center Friday after serving 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Kwil was exonerated of the charges against him Thursday. After leaving the prison, he stopped for a long awaited meal outside prison walls with his daughter and son-in-law.
RELATED: Man framed for murder by disgraced Chicago detective exonerated after more than 24 years in prison
"It still hasn't hit me, it hasn't hit yet," Kwil said. "Realizing I'm out."
Kwil is the 40th person to have their case dropped in connection to disgraced Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara.
Kwil said he plans to pursue a lawsuit against the city of Chicago.
"I want them to pay for ruining my life," Kwil said. "You can't get nothing back but you can be more comfortable from here,"
RELATED: 11 exonerees file federal lawsuits against former Chicago detective for coercing false confessions
"Doesn't feel like he is here," Kwil's daughter Aixa Hernandez said. "I don't know. It's so new."
Kwil, now 43, missed most of his son and daughter's lives.
"We can only just move forward and stay positive," Hernandez said. "We can't change all that time that was lost."
Kwil created artwork and trained to be a gardener while incarcerated. He is eager to get an ID and start working. However, the first thing he wants to do is get acquainted with the family who supported him.
"I'm going to spend [the rest of my life] with my daughter, her husband and the kids."
Kwil communicated with his grandsons while in prison, but will now meet them in person for the first time.
"They would talk on the phone and now they can finally see who they are talking to and meet him," Hernandez said. "That's really exciting."
