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ST. LOUIS — Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore on Wednesday filed to vacate the 33-year-old murder conviction of a St. Louis man he said has “clear and convincing evidence� of innocence.

The 1991 conviction of Christopher Dunn relied on the testimony of two children — a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old — both of whom later recanted.

“Justice requires that Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction be vacated,� Gore said at a news conference Wednesday.

Gore’s announcement marks the first time his office has sought to free someone following a wrongful conviction claim. His office’s revived “Conviction Integrity Unit� is reviewing nearly 40 cases, a spokeswoman for the office said Wednesday.

Gore’s filing also comes days after St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed to free a man on death row who was convicted of killing Lisha Gayle, a social worker and onetime Post-Dispatch reporter. And it comes a year after Gore’s predecessor, Kimberly M. Gardner, made use of a new state law to secure the release of Lamar Johnson, who spent nearly three decades in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Dunn was accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Ricco Rogers just before midnight on May 18, 1990, in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Dunn was 18 years old at the time.

Police arrived at Dunn’s house at 2 a.m. to arrest him, according to court documents. The following year, he was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The trial lasted a day and a half, and the jury deliberated for just 42 minutes, Gore’s motion said.

Gardner’s final act before resigning from office last May was to file a motion to vacate Dunn’s life sentence.

But Gore withdrew that motion the day after he was named as the city’s top prosecutor, and he appointed former state appeals court judge Booker Shaw to help prosecutors review the case. Shaw has been doing that work without pay since July.

Gore said Wednesday his decision to withdraw the petition was a “procedural matter� to make sure the sitting circuit attorney filed the petition and made their own, independent findings.

“I don’t take filing a motion like this with the court lightly,� he said.

During the review, Gore said his office found experts who could further debunk the eyewitness testimony. His office also plans to present information about the recanted identifications and Dunn’s alibi for the night of the killing.

If Gore’s motion moves forward, the court will hold a hearing to consider evidence presented at Dunn’s original trial and at subsequent appeals and post-conviction proceedings.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has the authority to oppose the motion, though it was immediately unclear if it would. It did oppose the effort to free Johnson from prison.

A hearing has not yet been scheduled in Dunn’s case.