Pastor and Advocate granted pardon of innocence after 30 years of fighting

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Reverand Darron Carmon has fought for 30 years to clear his name.

Years of letters, protests, and calls have all led to the day when Gov. Roy Cooper gave a pardon of innocence for Carmon.

Carmon is dedicated to serving others in Pitt County, having been recognized countless times for his work. He created two nonprofits; one to mentor young boys and another to help fight against racism.

"I created that organization as a result of my own pain to help heal other people," said Carmon.

He also adopted five children and is a pastor, but Carmon's success almost didn't happen.

In 1993, Carmon was a 19-year-old college student when Winterville police charged him with robbing the Fresh Way convenience store at gunpoint and taking $281.

He said he had never been in trouble with the law and at trial, his public defender admitted to not being prepared. The judge sentenced Carmon to 40 years.

"The pain was so heavy. I didn't want to wake up. I didn't want to look. I had nothing to look forward to. Each day I was in a place, I was trapped. I felt like I'd been kidnapped, and the only thing was there was no ransom, you know?" Carmon said. "And so there was no way out of this...the only way that I came up with was committing suicide."

Thankfully, Carmon's attempt failed and he continued to maintain his innocence. He was released from prison after 8 years for 'good behavior'.

He overcame the odds with more than 80 percent of prisoners returning to jail if they have a juvenile record, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Advocates like Dawn Blagrove said the public defender failed Carmon. Evidence resurfaced from a police locker that was never used such as a visual description of the suspect that stated the person was 6 foot, but Carmon was only 5'6 at the time. There were also fingerprints that were pulled from the scene that did not match Carmon's fingerprints.

"Prisons are not designed to rehabilitate. They are not designed to fix broken people. They are designed to punish and to be punitive and to keep their doors open to make sure that people are coming back. The fact that this child was able to have a flawless record while he was, with no infractions, incarcerated is nothing short of a miracle," said Dawn BLagrove, Emancipate NC.

Carmon has fought for decades to clear his name. He was exonerated in 2022. With Gov. Cooper's' pardon of forgiveness, he can receive $50,000 in state funds for each year in prison.

"I'm grateful to Governor Cooper for doing the right thing you know, he kind of proved to be a leader because not all leaders even like to get involved in situations like this. Some people would suggest that they're going against their own system...but right is right and wrong is wrong," said Carmon.

Moving forward Carmon wants those involved in his conviction to own their mistakes.

"I believe that individuals who are responsible for sending people to prison for crimes they didn't do because of negligence, they need to be held accountable. And I'm not just talking about a lawsuit. They need to be charged criminally because if it's intentional, did you intentionally mess somebody's life up? And I don't believe that you should be able to walk away with that," said Carmon.

He said he wants to continue his proactive and reactive work in the community mentoring young boys and helping those in the criminal justice system.

Blagrove said it's important for residents to call on the General Assembly legislators to provide more funding for public defenders so people can have a chance at a fair trial.

Carmon's lawyer told ABC11 they are suing the town for damages. The lawsuit is pending and should be resolved soon.