Glenn Ford, exonerated death row inmate, dies

SHREVEPORT, La. — Glenn Ford, who was exonerated last year after spending nearly 30 years of his life on death row for a crime he did not commit, died of lung cancer Monday, the Innocence Project New Orleans announced. He was 65.

According to a news release, Ford died surrounded by friends and family at 2:11 a.m. CT in New Orleans.

Ford's wrongful conviction would reignite national discussion about the death penalty after Shreveport Attorney A.M. "Marty" Stroud III, the lead prosecutor in Ford's trial, penned a letter apologizing for his role in Ford's conviction.

Stroud also would call for the abolition of the death penalty.

"In 1984, I was 33 years old. I was arrogant, judgmental, narcissistic and very full of myself. I was not as interested in justice as I was in winning," Stroud wrote in a letter that would go viral.

The two would later meet face-to-face.

In 1984, Ford was convicted of and sentenced to die for the Nov. 5, 1983, death of Shreveport jeweler Isadore Rozeman. Rozeman had been robbed and killed in his Stoner Hill shop.

Ford was 33 at the time of his conviction.

According to the Innocence Project New Orleans, Ford spent 29 years, three months and five days of his life in solitary confinement on death row at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

On March 10, 2014, Ford was exonerated. He had been the longest-serving death row inmate in the United States at the time of his release.

The state of Louisiana gave him $20 for a bus ride home from prison but has denied him further compensation under the state's wrongful conviction compensation statute, the Innocence Project New Orleans said.

And not long after his release, Ford was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Ford was born Oct. 22, 1949, in Shreveport. He was raised by a grandmother in California and would later return to Shreveport.

According to a news release, several of Ford's grandchildren, who live in California, were able to visit him.

A memorial will be held later at Charbonnet Funeral Home in New Orleans, the Innocence Project New Orleans said.