In 1993, Keith Ezidore was convicted of a murder he did not commit and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was based largely on the testimony of a juvenile witness who was approached about the unsolved murder on the same day he was scheduled to be sentenced to custody in his own juvenile case.
For decades, Mr. Ezidore has maintained his innocence and fought his conviction through post-conviction investigation and litigation. During that process, Innocence & Justice Louisiana uncovered hundreds of pages of documents that had been withheld from the defense at trial. Those records showed that the State concealed critical evidence about incentives, benefits, and extraordinary assistance provided to the juvenile witness in exchange for his testimony against Mr. Ezidore.
The juvenile witness has since repeatedly recanted his testimony and stated that he falsely implicated Mr. Ezidore to avoid punishment in his own cases.
On July 16, 2025, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal overturned Mr. Ezidore’s conviction, finding that the State violated his constitutional rights by suppressing evidence favorable to the defense. The Court later unanimously denied the State’s request for rehearing.
Even after his conviction was vacated, Mr. Ezidore remained incarcerated while the Attorney General’s Office fought to keep him in prison while they continued reprosecuting him. That fight led to an additional seven-month legal battle just to get him a bail hearing.
n February, after a two-day bail hearing, the district court set Mr. Ezidore’s bail at $1 million. IJLA continued challenging that amount. On April 28, 2026, the Louisiana Supreme Court agreed and ordered that bail be capped at $100,000.
Mr. Ezidore was freed on bail on May 12, 2026, after spending more than 34 years in prison, and is now living with numerous chronic and degenerative medical conditions affecting his mobility, spinal cord, joints, vision, and overall health. He cannot walk unaided and relies on a rollator for assistance.
Those wanting to support Keith’s journey can do so by donating to his GoFundMe or purchasing items from his Amazon.