The decision of Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd not to retry Joshua C. Kezer means Kezer will be a free man in a couple of hours.

Kezer, who turned 34 on Monday, has been imprisoned in Jefferson City Correctional Center since convicted in 1994 for the murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless.

In a ruling by Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan issued Tuesday, Kezer was found to have been wrongfully convicted, cleared of the crime he's denied for almost 15 years.

Friends and family were making plans to pick up Kezer from the Jefferson City prison this afternoon, said Jane Williams, a former social worker who was instrumental in getting Kezer's case back in the courts.

When Boyd submitted notice that he didn't intend to prosecute Kezer, Kezer could have been released almost immediately, but chose to spend a bit of time saying goodbye to friends in prison, Williams said.

"I'm just so happy for him-it's been so long and coming," Williams said.

Callahan's opinion was highly critical of the way the Kezer prosecution was handled. The ruling gave the state 10 days to determine whether or not it would retry Kezer.

In a news release sent out today, Boyd said he felt he couldn't get a probable cause affidavit from police that would support the filing of charges against Kezer or anyone else for the Lawless murder. "The investigators have a lot of work to do in resolving this case," Boyd said in the news release. "If some new evidence comes to light pointing at a suspect, I expect to be apprised of the facts and determine if a prosecution should be commenced at that time."

A Southeast Missourian reporting team is in Jefferson City today, and we'll have a report with comments from Kezer later at semissourian.com.

Kezer's testimony from December

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