DENVER — More than a year since Stephan Long shot and killed brothers, Damon and Blake Lucas, on I-25, he woke up Thursday a free man.
Wednesday evening, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced she'd be requesting the courts dismiss the final first-degree murder charge against Long.
"This is the justice Stephan should have been afforded from the very beginning," said Alexander Landau, co-director of the Denver Justice Project.
Landau used the Denver Justice Project to organize calls to action, write letters to McCann and advocate for Long's freedom. He said he began working toward justice for Long the same month he was charged with murder.
"We began to realize there were not only significant overreaches in Stephan’s case, but a total abuse of power on behalf of the district attorney," Landau said. "This highlighted a bigger issue of the role power dynamics and influence a district attorney has on just every individual case, but in some cases, an entire categorization of people."
McCann dropped one of the murder charges two months after the shooting. Landau said this final charge was held over Long for too long.
"We saw the strong arm of a system that was used to tear him apart and it was used against him," Landau said.
Despite feeling the action was overdue, he acknowledged how important dropping the charges means for the Long family and beyond.
"Yesterday was a monumental victory, not just for Stephan and his family, but for the broader community that has stood behind him this entire time [and] for other individuals in similar circumstances," Landau said. "This is the type of dismissal that could help set precedent for other individuals who are faced to go through unjust proceedings in the criminal justice system."
Landau said he looks forward to working with Long to continue to fight oversights in the criminal justice system.
"We want to make sure our door is as open as possible, not just for him and his family, but also other families who might need similar levels of support," Landau said.