CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been one year since Ronnie Long was freed from prison after spending 44 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.
There’s a pending civil suit against the law enforcement officers he believes covered up his innocence, but he’s focused on something else: helping others he believes faced similar injustices.
Long knows exactly how long he spent in prison.
"Forty years behind the fence," Ronnie Long said. "Forty-four years, three months and 17 days."
It’s been a year since Ronnie Long walked out of Albermarle Correctional Institute as a free man.
"I take it one day at a time," he said.
At 65 years old, he says he’s healthier now -- he’s almost back at the weight he was when he was first sent away at just 21 years old. That’s in part thanks to his wife Ashleigh. They married while he was behind bars and now live together in the home they just bought. She makes him exercise and eat organic food.
He's still getting used to it.
"How you get an egg without an egg white?" he joked.
The couple does just about everything together, including Ronnie’s new passion: fighting for others.
"I'm an advocate now against injustice," he said. "I know what racism and supremacy tried to do to me, I know the mentality where they look at you and say you ain’t even human, you’re life don’t mean nothing."
Together the couple is working on behalf of Kendrick Johnson’s family -- a black Georgia teen whose 2013 death was ruled accidental. His family believes he was murdered.
"Why people can think their lives don’t matter," Ashleigh Long said.
"It's the same mentality that tried to put me on death row," Ronnie Long added.
He is also navigating a new part of the justice system -- he’s filed a civil suit against the city of Concord and several police officers involved in his case, saying they withheld evidence, lied on the stand, and helped hand-pick the all-white jury that convicted him.
Attorneys for the city of Concord and the law enforcement officers named in the suit deny those claims.
"Do you feel like justice has been served? No, no, ain't no justice has been served yet – til I bring all the other players to the surface," he said. "It ain't over."
Attorneys for Ronnie Long filed the civil suit in May and in August added new defendants to the suit – SBI agents – after attorneys say they learned they also played a part in the collection of evidence.
Contact Michelle at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte's coverage timeline of the Ronnie Long case:
- November 2009: Concord man gets second day in court after 32 years
- March 2010: NC Supreme Court hears appeal from Concord man
- August 2014: Prison wedding for Concord lifer claiming innocence
- February 2020: Wrongfully convicted? Concord man has new hope for appeal after 44 years
- March 2020: Concord man serving for crime he says he didn't commit has to wait longer for appeal due to COVID-19
- April 2020: Update: Concord man claiming innocence will get his day in court — virtually
- May 2020: Concord man claiming innocence will get his day in court virtually on Thursday
- May 2020: 44 years later, Concord man's innocence argued in appeals court
- June 2020: 'We know this is a racial injustice' | Renewed plea to release Concord man claiming innocence
- July 2020: "I'm struggling to stay alive" | Concord man loses his mom while in prison and awaiting a decision on his freedom
- August 2020: 44 years later, federal appeals court rules the rights of Concord man were violated at trial
- August 2020: 'This is the epitome of injustice' | NC NAACP president calls for immediate release of Ronnie Long
- August 2020: 'I’ve been crying happy tears' | A man who maintained his innocence for 44 years to be freed from prison
- August 2020: Ronnie Long is now a free man after maintaining his innocence for 44 years
- August 2020: Ronnie Long's son was just 3 years old when his father was arrested. Now he's ready to make new memories
- August 2020: Wife: Ronnie Long wants to 'eat a steak first thing' after 44 years in prison, attorney plans to request pardon of innocence from governor
- August 2020: Cabarrus County won't retry Ronnie Long case, ending decades-long fight for freedom
- December 2020: Gov. Roy Cooper granted a pardon of innocence for Ronnie Long
- April 2021: Ronnie Long says $750,000 is not enough after spending 44 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit
- May 2021: Ronnie Long sues Concord, detectives for 'systematically' suppressing evidence
- June 2021: Ronnie Long's lawsuit against Concord, detectives amended after new information obtained