Actor JJ Velazquez Exonerated In Murder Case, Spent 23 Years In Prison

NEW YORK CITY — A New York judge on Monday vacated the murder conviction of actor Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez based on newly discovered DNA evidence.

Velazquez had served more than 23 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a retired police detective.

In 1999, Velazquez was convicted of fatally shooting retired NYPD officer Albert Ward during a botched robbery in Harlem, prosecutors said.

The then 22-year-old was thought to have been one of two men who had tried to rob the Harlem gambling den that night.

During the attempted robbery, Ward pulled out a gun and a struggle ensued with one of the armed robbers, named “Tee.”

Ward is eventually killed by "Tee," prosecutors said.

In 2022, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office opened a new reinvestigation, which included having the chief medical examiner compare Velazquez’s DNA to a betting slip that “Tee” handled before shooting Ward.

The testing found that Velazquez’s DNA was excluded – or not found – from a mixture of DNA on the betting slip handled by the shooter. This type of DNA comparison was not available at the time of Velazquez’s trial, prosecutors said.

The reinvestigation found that the results of the DNA testing could have impacted the jury’s consideration of other trial evidence, including Velazquez’s alibi, the fact that no evidence connected him to the crime, and that the eyewitnesses provided inconsistent descriptions.

“JJ Velazquez has lived in the shadow of his conviction for more than 25 years, and I hope that today brings with it a new chapter for him,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “I am grateful to our Post-Conviction Justice Unit for its commitment to impartially uncovering the facts and evidence in this case. Since the creation of the Unit in 2022 we have vacated 10 convictions through reinvestigations and 500 more related to law enforcement members convicted of misconduct. These convictions have deep consequences for individuals and their loved ones, compromise public safety, and undermine trust in the criminal justice system, which is why this work is of the utmost importance to me. We will continue to review these types of cases with the thoroughness and fairness they require.”

Velazquez starred as himself in "Sing Sing," a film that follows an acting program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.