BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — After 23 years in prison, Jeffrey Abramowski is ready to move forward as a free man.
The state has dropped its second-degree murder case against him after new DNA evidence emerged, prompting the court to vacate his life sentence in April.
The 64-year-old has spent a third of his life locked up over the death of his friend, Cortney Crandall. Now he says he’s ready to start anew.
“It just came into my mind, it was like I actually have freedom of choice again,” Abramowski said.
His daughter, Jamie LeBlanc, daughter, recounted how she was only 13 when it happened. Now, at 37, she says, "I’ve had to go through a lot of my life without him and fighting for him and begging and pleading for help."
Abramowski was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2006. But the state attorney’s office said because of new DNA evidence, the loss of key witnesses and an inability to re-test archived evidence for DNA using current technique, it could not continue to prosecute Abramowski.
His defense attorney said they will seek compensation for his imprisonments, saying, “Compensation is absolutely an avenue that we’re going to walk down. Mr. Abramowski is entitled to compensation through state statute and other avenues."
"You just got to let those feelings subside when they do and just keep moving forward, and that’s what I did all those years. I never fell victim to creating my own monsters," Abramowski said.
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