MINNEAPOLIS—A Minnesota man was freed from prison after spending 16 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit, as announced by a local prosecutor on Tuesday.

In 2009, a jury convicted Edgar Barrientos-Quintana of murdering 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson in a drive-by shooting, leading to a life sentence without the possibility of parole. However, following an extensive three-year investigation, the Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit released a troubling report in August, which critiqued the Minneapolis police’s initial investigation and highlighted evidence corroborating Barrientos-Quintana’s alibi.

A judge granted Barrientos-Quintana’s release last week.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty expressed her remorse in a statement on Tuesday, saying, “Nothing can give Mr. Barrientos-Quintana back those 16 years, and for that, we are so sorry. Our hearts are also with the family of Jesse Mickelson over their irreparable loss. When the criminal legal system fails to operate justly, it inflicts considerable harm.”

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, state court Judge John McBride annulled Barrientos-Quintana’s convictions and ordered his release, stating that he did not receive a fair trial.

Moriarty noted that Barrientos-Quintana’s defense attorney did not adequately protect his interests and that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence. Furthermore, she highlighted that investigators employed coercive methods during lineups and interrogations that led to unreliable eyewitness testimonies.

Security camera footage recorded Barrientos-Quintana shopping at a grocery store shortly before the shooting, while phone records—which were not submitted during the trial—indicated he was at his girlfriend’s suburban apartment shortly after the incident. The Conviction Review Unit concluded that it was impossible for him to have reached and returned from the crime scene within that timeframe.

Additionally, the review found fault with the police methods, noting that they presented an older photograph of Barrientos-Quintana with a shaved head to witnesses who had described the suspect as bald. However, surveillance footage confirmed that he had short, dark hair during the time of the shooting.

Last month, Barrientos-Quintana petitioned Judge McBride to overturn his conviction in light of the findings in Ellison’s report. In September, Moriarty disclosed that Mickelson’s sisters had expressed their belief in Barrientos-Quintana’s innocence and supported his release.