The salvation of Josh Kezer

Convicted in 1994 for the murder of a 19-year-old nursing student, Josh Kezer's exoneration two months ago was only the second part of what he considers his salvation.   ¦  JOON HYOUNG KIM

COLUMBIA – Josh Kezer gets carsick even on short rides out to dinner. The fork and knife set before him are comically huge after eating every meal for so long with a small plastic spork. The call of frogs along the MKT Trail seems absurdly loud.

But none of this really bothers him; his reactions to life these days are childlike.

After his release from prison just more than two months ago, after serving nearly 16 years for a crime he didn’t commit, Kezer, 34, celebrates the mundane – a car ride, a plate of sliced fruit, going out to eat or holding a baby at church.

Kezer was convicted in 1994 for the murder of a Southeast Missouri State University student and sentenced to serve two consecutive 30-year terms. He was exonerated in February when a judge threw out the original verdict in light of new evidence.

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