A former groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox returned to his old job after serving 23 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit, according to CBS Chicago.
Nevest Coleman, 49, was released from prison in November when prosecutors vacated him and another individual after DNA evidence cleared them of a 1994 rape and murder.
Coleman was greeted by former colleagues who still worked at Rate Field.
“I don’t have to worry about everybody giving me things,” he told CBS Chicago. “I can support myself now.”
In February, a priest from his childhood reached out to the Sox to see if Coleman could return to work. He first worked with the team during the 1992 season.
Coleman chooses to remain optimistic about this wrongful incarceration because of his family.
“If I’m miserable, that means everybody else around me will be miserable,” he said. “So if I’m happy, everybody else will be happy. I don’t have time to be miserable, you know?”
He said that while he was imprisoned he used to watch his old colleagues pulling the tarp used for rain delays.
