There is justice at last in a case that took prime time away from these men and their families.
Time they can never get back.
But time going forward that they didn't think they had and do now.
Freedom is the bone chilling cold of this freezing winter night.
It hit the three men walking out of the courthouse garage to the warm embrace of family and friends.
Their murder convictions have been overturned.
"Man, I got my family with me, I'm good right now man," said Devon Ayers, wrongfully convicted.
Devon Ayers, Carlos Perez and Michael Cosme are free to go.
Eyewitness News asked Cosme how much he feels like he's lost.
"A lot, a lot, all my youth, my family, I lost a lot, I lost a lot," Cosme said.
For 18 years they've been locked up in a justice system that had declared them guilty.
Guilty of the 1995 murder of a Fed Ex worker and a livery cab driver.
Then last year, the U.S. Attorney's Office uncovered evidence that pointed the finger of blame somewhere else.
There has been no apology from the DA's office, "We asked that the indictment not be dismissed so that we can do further investigation to determine if we are able to re-try the case."
A retrial is not in the cards for the three men who feel like the deck has been stacked against them.
"I ain't going to sit here and sugarcoat it. I'm mad, ain't nothing wrong with that," Ayers said.
But the pain of being wrongly convicted is dwarfed by the feelings of joy.
Their families cry tears for the time they've lost and the years left to live.
"Tonight I want to spend it with the kids and make up for the lost years, a lot of years, 18 years is a long time," said Carlos Perez, wrongfully convicted.
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