YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Shocking developments in one of the most highly publicized cases in the Valley's history. All charges have been dismissed against Jamar Houser in the murder of an 80- year-old woman shot while leaving St. Dominic's Church.

Twenty-one-year-old Jamar Houser faced the death penalty if convicted of robbing and shooting Angeline Fimognari in the parking lot at St. Dominic's Church in Youngstown.

Now, he's a free man speaking out about a justice system he says robbed him of two years of his life. "They need to start looking at more people's cases ‘cause they have people just locked down for no apparent reason, just off of hearsay. Y'all just can't keep going off of that or what anybody just says,"Houser said.

Houser was released after revelations from the Mahoning County Prosecutor and Youngstown police detectives cleared his name and led to a dismissal of the murder charges.

His family cried tears of joy as Judge Lou D'Apolito ordered his release.

"At this point in time there's certainly insufficient evidence to proceed against Mr. Houser," said Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains.

That's because just last month as prosecutors prepared to put Houser on trial, they received a call that an individual named Duane Colvin committed the crime.

Two witnesses came forward saying Colvin confessed to them on separate occasions that he shot and killed the lady at St. Dominic's Church.

But adding an even more bizarre twist to this story is the fact that Colvin is dead. Authorities decided to exhume his body and compare his palm print to an unidentified palm print found at the scene of the crime.

"That exhumation occurred and we received notification late Tuesday afternoon that the palm print that was found on Mrs. Fimognari's car was actually the palm print of Dwayne Colvin. Which is extremely strong evidence that Mr. Colvin committed this horrendous crime," Gains said .

But prosecutors and police say the case remains open and they still have eyewitness identification that Houser was in the area at the time of the murder and if they find out a second person was involved they will be prosecuted.

The defense says there's nothing in the evidence to indicate that Jamar Houser was anywhere near the murder scene, and they're just thankful that in the end justice prevailed.

"It's impossible to imagine being charged with something when you know you didn't do it. And not only are they trying to convict you, but they're trying to stick a needle in your arm and end your life," said Houser's attorney John Juhasz.