After years of fighting to prove his innocence, Edgar Barrientos-Quintana was released from prison Wednesday after his conviction and life sentence for the murder of a Minneapolis high school student 16 years ago were vacated.

Quintana's murder conviction from 2009 was vacated by Judge John McBride after he found that the defense counsel's representation was flawed and the prosecutors committed Brady violations, according to the Great North Innocence Project (GNIP).