The state of Connecticut has awarded $6 million to a man who was wrongfully imprisoned. Kenneth Ireland served more than two decades in prison --- for a rape and murder that he did not commit.
Ireland was arrested in 1987 at the age of 18 and was sent to a maximum security prison. In 2009, was released, after DNA tests proved another man raped and killed a 30-year-old woman.
"Twenty one years he's never going to get back. Twenty one years when he could have gotten married. He could have had a career. He could have gone to college," said Cherry Cooney, Ireland's mother, at a hearing in July.
Ireland sued under Connecticut's wrongful incarceration law.
In its filing, the state acknowledged Ireland's imprisonment deprived him of "opportunities both large and small."
Following his release, Ireland worked as a bookkeeper. In October, Governor Dannel Malloy named him to a paid position on the state parole board.
