How Christopher Dunn found love, a new home and new promises after 34 years of injustice
Story by Katie Kull
Photos by Laurie Skrivan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
11 min to read
"I never thought it was going to happen," said Christopher Dunn, who dips his toes in the ocean for the first time in his life with his wife, Kira, on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Southern California. "In prison, we didn't ever get the chance to just walk and hold hands."
"My father at the time of his death was my best friend. ... I promised him I would never be a street kid. I kept my promise," said Christopher Dunn, who visits his father's gravesite with his wife Kira on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Washington Park Cemetery in Berkeley. They promised to get him a proper tombstone and wrote his name on the wooden marker.
A few days after being found innocent and being released from prison after 34 years, Christopher Dunn visits a lot where his childhood home sat in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.
"I'm still outside looking in. That's the world out there. I am ready to live," said Christopher Dunn, who stares out of a parking garage before embarking on a cross-country road trip on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Clayton.
"The moment you give up on each other, we ain't nothing. I could have easily gave up in jail, I would have given up on each and everyone of you all," said Christopher Dunn, as he says goodbye to his family on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at his sister's house in Florissant.
"I am leaving home to go home. I am going to miss St. Louis. But I am ready for the new adventure," said Christopher Dunn, as he and his wife, Kira, travel through Tucumcari, New Mexico, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024.
"Every time I get to hold him longer for three seconds it's a gift. I cannot get enough, it's pure bliss," said Kira Dunn, who reciprocates a hug from her husband Christopher Dunn on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at a hotel in Oklahoma City, Okla. She met Dunn 25 years ago and married him while he was in prison.
Christopher Dunn tries a bubble tea for the first time on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at an Oklahoma strip mall, while talking on his phone to a friend still in prison. "I have never seen a straw this thick," Dunn said.
"I won't ever spit in the sink. It's a prison thing," said Christopher Dunn, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dunn says even brushing his teeth with a full-sized toothbrush is a blessing after prison where he had to use a shorter one for safety.
“For those who participated in my prosecution, I forgive you,” said Christopher Dunn, who takes his first steps as a free man on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, outside the Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. “I’ve got a life to live now."
"I have been praying for this moment for 34 years," said Martha Dunn, who reunites with her son Christopher Dunn on the steps of the Carnahan Courthouse on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in downtown St. Louis.
Kira Dunn takes a photo of her husband Christopher Dunn on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at La Ventana Natural Arch in New Mexico. It is one of the few stops the couple made on their cross country road trip.
"I never thought it was going to happen," said Christopher Dunn, who dips his toes in the ocean for the first time in his life with his wife, Kira, on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Southern California. "In prison, we didn't ever get the chance to just walk and hold hands."
"My father at the time of his death was my best friend. ... I promised him I would never be a street kid. I kept my promise," said Christopher Dunn, who visits his father's gravesite with his wife Kira on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Washington Park Cemetery in Berkeley. They promised to get him a proper tombstone and wrote his name on the wooden marker.
"I'm still outside looking in. That's the world out there. I am ready to live," said Christopher Dunn, who stares out of a parking garage before embarking on a cross-country road trip on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Clayton.
"The moment you give up on each other, we ain't nothing. I could have easily gave up in jail, I would have given up on each and everyone of you all," said Christopher Dunn, as he says goodbye to his family on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at his sister's house in Florissant.
"I am leaving home to go home. I am going to miss St. Louis. But I am ready for the new adventure," said Christopher Dunn, as he and his wife, Kira, travel through Tucumcari, New Mexico, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024.
"Every time I get to hold him longer for three seconds it's a gift. I cannot get enough, it's pure bliss," said Kira Dunn, who reciprocates a hug from her husband Christopher Dunn on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at a hotel in Oklahoma City, Okla. She met Dunn 25 years ago and married him while he was in prison.
Christopher Dunn tries a bubble tea for the first time on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at an Oklahoma strip mall, while talking on his phone to a friend still in prison. "I have never seen a straw this thick," Dunn said.
"I won't ever spit in the sink. It's a prison thing," said Christopher Dunn, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dunn says even brushing his teeth with a full-sized toothbrush is a blessing after prison where he had to use a shorter one for safety.
“For those who participated in my prosecution, I forgive you,” said Christopher Dunn, who takes his first steps as a free man on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, outside the Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. “I’ve got a life to live now."
"I have been praying for this moment for 34 years," said Martha Dunn, who reunites with her son Christopher Dunn on the steps of the Carnahan Courthouse on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in downtown St. Louis.
Kira Dunn takes a photo of her husband Christopher Dunn on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at La Ventana Natural Arch in New Mexico. It is one of the few stops the couple made on their cross country road trip.
