A man facing 99 years in prison for a violent crime he didn’t commit was cleared of any wrongdoing, thanks to a Facebook selfie taken by his mom.
On Sept. 22, 2017, Cedar Park, Texas, resident Christopher “CJ” Precopia, 21, was working at a lumberyard when the Temple County Police Department came to arrest him. CJ’s crime: Breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home two days prior and attacking her with a box cutter, carving an “X” onto her chest, according to Austin television station KVUE.
CJ was confused — he hadn’t spoken to his ex-girlfriend in two years, having only dated her for six weeks in high school when he was 17 and she was 15, mom Erin Precopia told ABC News.
Their breakup was admittedly unfriendly, but the pair remained apart, and CJ didn’t know where she lived.
“I had no idea who accused me of this, I had no idea why everything’s happening, and I was lost,” CJ told KVUE.
Per ABC News, CJ’s ex-girlfriend told police that after CJ broke into her home, he “came towards her in an aggressive manner and pushed her to the ground, punched her in the face and cut her with a box cutter.”
CJ’s parents paid his $150,000 jail bond and over the next nine months, they waited to hear whether CJ would be found guilty of first-degree felony burglary of a habitation with intent to commit additional felonies, which carried a 99-year prison sentence if convicted.
However, Erin insisted that her son couldn’t have committed this crime — because they were together on Sept. 20th, 2017, at 7:20 p.m., the time of the alleged attack. Erin had taken CJ to the Renaissance Austin Hotel for an event by the skincare line Rodan & Fields called “Men Tell All.”
“Thankfully, I do log on Facebook all the time, and I check in when I go places,” Erin, told KVUE.
That evening, Erin had posted a selfie of her and CJ at 7:02 p.m. at the event located an hour away from the accuser’s home. Additionally, per ABC News, text messages between the mother and son showed plans to carpool to the event, cell tower data proved they were inside the hotel, and witnesses verified they had interacted with CJ.
However, the damages are immeasurable. CJ’s parents have paid about $250,000 in legal fees and CJ’s application to the U.S. Army was denied due to the charges.
“I think there should have been way more investigation into that because it was basically word of mouth,” CJ told KVEU. “…I just hope something like this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Culled from yahoo lifestyle
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
