MINNEAPOLIS • A Black man who was sentenced to life behind bars as a teenager walked out of a Minnesota prison Tuesday to the sound of ringing bells and cheering supporters, hours after a pardons board commuted his sentence in a high-profile murder case. Myon Burrell’s case, and his age at the time of the killing, raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away. This year, the AP and American Public Media uncovered new evidence and serious flaws in the police investigation into the 2002 killing of an 11-year-old girl who was hit by a stray bullet while doing homework at her dining room table.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted to commute his sentence to 20 years, with the remaining two years to be served on supervised release. Dozens of supporters braved below-freezing temperatures to greet Burrell as he took his first steps of freedom. They rang cow bells and beat a drum as he walked out, cheering, “Myon’s free!” Once he arrived home, he was welcomed by his family.

“It’s just a blessing to be home,” he said, while standing outside looking at the sky for the moon and stars, which he said he’s been longing to see. Burrell, who was 16 at the time of the slaying, appeared at his hearing via videoconference from inside the state’s Stillwater prison. He became emotional as the board voted, and put his hand on his head and said, “Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.”

His request for a commutation and a pardon, he told the board, was “not in any way, shape or form me trying to minimize the tragedy of the loss of” Tyesha Edwards. “I come before you, a 34-year-old man who spent more than half of his life incarcerated for a crime I didn’t commit.”

Burrell told the board, saying he did not know what was going on when he was sentenced, and that he converted to Islam and became a religious leader.