Illinois man locked up for murder he didn't commit sues law enforcement officials

GURNEE, Ill. - A Gurnee man exonerated after a decades-long lock-up for a murder he didn't commit is now going after law enforcement officials for that wrongful conviction.

Herman Williams was released from an Illinois prison a year ago after his conviction for the murder of his ex-wife was vacated in Lake County.

He has now filed a lawsuit in federal court against nine former Lake County police officers and their respective departments, along with two former state's attorneys and a now-deceased pathologist.

In a news conference Thursday, with his team of attorneys, he explained the pain of what he missed.

He was locked up away from his children since 1994 and says that's what motivated the lawsuit. 

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"The people who did this to me and my kids and my family need to be held accountable for all the years I missed dinners, birthdays, holidays, regular days, first days of school, hard days of school, the list goes on and on," said Williams.       

Williams, who is now 59, says he's repairing his relationships with his children, who for decades thought he killed their mother.

To this day, no other suspects have been arrested for the death of Penny Williams, whose body was found in a shallow pond in Lake County in September 1993.