On Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at 8:47 PM, Innocence Project of Florida client David Woodard walked out of the St. Lucie County Jail in Ft Pierce, Florida, after spending 21.5 years in prison for a 2003 murder he did not commit. David is the 38th person released with the help of the Innocence Project of Florida. In total, these 38 individuals have spent more than 885 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. After the Innocence Project of Florida filed multiple viable claims for postconviction relief producing evidence of actual innocence and shortly before an evidentiary hearing to present this evidence to the Court, David and the State of Florida agreed to a settlement that removed the risk of remaining sentenced to prison for his natural life in exchange for the immediate end of his sentence and his release after more than two decades. St. Lucie County Circuit Judge Lawrence M. Mirman approved that agreement, paving the way for his release. IPF Executive Director Seth Miller and Legal Director Brandon Scheck represented David in these proceedings, and IPF Senior Staff Investigator Amy Carr performed the bulk of the field investigation that produced the evidence of actual innocence.

 

In early April 2003, the victim was shot and killed in his car, in front of his girlfriend, as they were picking up food at a Chinese restaurant in Ft Pierce. Law enforcement developed a motive for the murder, pointing to a number of individuals who were angry at the victim for not testifying on behalf of their family member at his own murder trial. Once that other individual was convicted, the State theorized that his mother, Diane Fennell, his aunt Willie Mae Hampton, his aunt’s lover, Patrick Williams, and even the victim’s girlfriend hatched a plan to kill the victim as revenge for not testifying in this other murder case. An individual named Kelvin Williams, who himself was suspected of being the shooter in this case, told police that David Woodard was the shooter-for-hire.

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At his June 2006 trial, the State presented four key witnesses against David. One witness, who had a history of lying and was herself incentivized to testify, told the jury that she saw David at a bar taking part in the planning of the crime, and then shortly thereafter, she got a ride from an unknown person to the scene of the eventual shooting and saw David shoot the victim in his car. A second witness stated she saw one of the conspirators hand a bag of money to an unknown individual in a car before the murder. Kelvin Williams’ brother, Lenard Williams, testified that he gave David Woodard a gun to use for the murder and that he happened to be driving around and saw David standing and pointing a gun into the victim’s car. And Kelvin Williams testified to his own alibi. David was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy, and after the jury declined to recommend a death sentence, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

 

IPF became involved in 2021, when it received letters that the co-defendant and ring-leader of the crime, Patrick Williams, had sent to the authorities, where he indicated that he had hired his brother, Kelvin Williams, to shoot the victim for not testifying in the murder trial of his lover’s nephew. He stated unequivocally that David Woodard did not shoot the victim, had no part in the planning or carrying out of the murder, and that statements by trial witnesses implicating David Woodard were fabrications. He executed a sworn affidavit based on this evidence of innocence, which became the basis of a motion for postconviction relief filed by IPF on David’s behalf in 2021.

 

Based on this newly discovered evidence, IPF conducted a multi-year field investigation, which uncovered significant corroborating evidence of David’s innocence.

 

• Kelvin Williams’ stepsister stated in a sworn deposition recently taken by the State that Kelvin Williams confessed to her and her mother around the time of the trials in this case that he was the shooter of the victim in this case and that David Woodard was innocent.

 

• Kelvin Williams’ stepbrother stated that Kelvin Williams also later confessed to him that Kelvin was the shooter and that they had the wrong man in prison for the crime.

 

• Kelvin’s blood brother, Lenard Williams, provided a recent sworn statement to the State that the trial testimony he provided against David Woodard was untrue and that his brother, Kelvin, actually committed the crime.



• IPF discovered that these statements were buttressed by the testimony of co-defendant Diane Fennell in co-defendant Willie Mae Hampton’s trial, stating that Kelvin Williams was the actual shooter of the victim.

 

In November 2024, IPF’s investigation was further strengthened by the State's provision of previously undisclosed depositions, taken four months after David was convicted but before the trials of his co-defendants, Willie Mae Hampton and Patrick Williams, in which Kelvin Williams’ stepbrother and his stepmother testified under oath to Kelvin’s separate confessions. These were only discovered by IPF in its own investigation more than 15 years later. Another previously undisclosed deposition irreparably impeached one of the other trial witnesses against David Woodard. This meant that within four months of David’s wrongful conviction, the State had evidence of his innocence in the co-defendant’s file but did not disclose it.

 

Despite the abundance of strong evidence supporting David’s innocence, the risk remained that David would not prevail in his postconviction proceedings and remain wrongfully incarcerated for the remainder of his life. In an effort to avoid any possibility of dying in prison, David took control of his life and entered into an agreement with the State that vacated his convictions and immediately ended his sentence, allowing him to walk free in exchange for an Alford plea in his best interest to a lesser charge where he could still maintain his innocence on the record in Court. Like others, David chose freedom over full justice.

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While IPF was ready to litigate the case, we fully support David’s decision to take control of his life and secure his future. The agreed resolution does not change the quantity or quality of the evidence, which completely undermines the State’s original trial evidence and proves David’s innocence. We are excited to welcome him into the community of people who were wrongfully convicted and freed throughout Florida and beyond.