Falsely Accused Of Murder, Moore Man Freed After 18 Years Behind Bars

Back in 1999, Salaam Moore was accused of shooting two people a northwest side apartment building. One person died. The other person was seriously injured. The survivor wound up testifying against Moore and he served more than half his life in prison before she finally came forward and said she lied.

For 34-year-old Moore, it's the simple things that he treasures now, like walking the dog; a freedom he couldn't enjoy in prison. 

"Once they tell you you'll never be a free man, place something on you like that, it's a burden. That thing holds you down," Moore said.

Moore was released this week when a judge threw out his conviction. He was accused of gunning down Phillip Gonzales and severely injuring Gonzales' friend, Doris Wright, all over a drug debt.  

"I felt in my heart that I was gonna walk. But they did some trickery stuff at this court," Moore said.

He served his time. Missing family events. Even missing his older brother's funeral.

"That there brought me to my suicide attempts. And that's hard because…because someone takes him because that's my brother, you know what I mean?"

Moore's conviction was vacated after Wright, reportedly a prostitute and crack addict, later admitted she lied about who shot her. 

"I never blamed her. For all these years, I never blamed her because I knew she had a condition," Moore said, referring to Wright’s addiction. "I don't blame Doris. She's…an angel. I look forward to going to church with her."

Wright made the admission after she was tracked down by Team Action private investigators, hired by Moore's girlfriend Lola Gaines. 

"She dressed up like a hooker to find her. I mean she did multiple...streetwalking." Gaines said.

Now Moore is trying to get used to life outside prison. For the first time he played with an iPad. He admitted he thought it was a photo album till he picked it up “and it moved”.

"I don't know what size pants I wear. You know this is hard,” Moore said. “At the same time I don't want to walk out that door. I'm like baby. The world is big out there. It's real big."