Daywatch: Court vacates convictions for Illinois’ longest-serving exonerees

Good morning, Chicago.

Just 8 years old when her brother was incarcerated following a double slaying in a Southwest Side park, Pilar More, now 50, watched her older sibling grow up behind bars.

Her brother, James Soto, and his cousin, David Ayala were convicted of murder and other felonies in the shooting deaths of 16-year-old Julie Limas and Hector Valeriano, 18, a U.S. Marine on leave, on Aug. 16, 1981. They were sentenced to natural life in prison.

After a multi-decade fight during which the cousins maintained their innocence, a judge on Thursday vacated their convictions and Cook County prosecutors dropped all charges, making Soto and Ayala, now in their 60s, the longest-serving exonerees in Illinois history.

“I just look forward to a time where we get to know him, and he gets to know all of us,” More said, wiping away tears after the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Madeline Buckley.

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