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ST. LOUIS — When Kira Dunn told her husband Christopher Dunn by phone that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office has launched an effort to overturn his murder conviction, he was quiet.

It was 4:30 p.m. Monday. Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s office had announced that morning it was moving to prove his innocence in court.

“We’ve had so many emotional ups and downs, sometimes we don’t react with joy or sorrow. We just absorb it,� said Kira Dunn in an interview. The pair met while she was a volunteer for a justice publication in 1999 and grew closer. They married nine years ago.

“Until he walks out that door, we can’t get our hopes up,� she said.

Christopher Dunn’s innocence claims rely on the lack of physical evidence linking him to the killing of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers in 1990. A teen himself at the time, Christopher Dunn, now 51, maintains that at the time of the murder, he was at home with his mother and sister.

The main two witnesses have since recanted their testimony, saying they were pressured by police and prosecutors at the time to make an identification. A judge in 2020 noted no court today would convict Christopher Dunn but cited legal hurdles in Dunn’s case.

Until Monday, Dunn’s bid for freedom had been denied by nearly every possible court. The Missouri Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court have both refused to hear his case.

“When you lie down, it’s over. As long as there is breath in our bodies, we are going to fight until he gets home,� Kira Dunn said.

Gardner filed the motion to vacate the murder sentence of Christopher Dunn just a day before her surprise early resignation. She used a law influenced by the case of a man she worked to set free earlier this year, Lamar Johnson. At one point, Johnson and Dunn, both Black men from St. Louis, were acquainted with each other in prison.

The nation should be paying attention to Dunn’s case, said one of his original attorneys, Justin Bonus.

“Let me make this clear: He’s not getting a favor. This is what is supposed to happen,� said Bonus, who is based in New York. “He proved his innocence, and because of a procedural bar, they kept him in jail. This could be anybody’s relative. It could be you sitting in Chris Dunn’s position right now.�

Kira also flew into St. Louis from her home in California to attend Lamar Johnson’s five-day hearing in December, where witnesses and former detectives and officers testified about Johnson’s prosecution. A judge ultimately granted Gardner’s motion, and Johnson walked out of the Carnahan Courthouse a free man on Valentine’s Day.

“It takes everyone’s voice to say, ‘This is what we as a community believes is justice,’� said Tricia Bushwell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, which has taken up Christopher Dunn’s case.

“A lot of families go through what Kira is going through. They are working really hard to bring their loved ones home, but oftentimes the courts don’t pay attention until there’s a professional voice.�

Steve Ohmer, one of the prosecutors from Christopher Dunn’s trial, is now a St. Louis Circuit Court judge. During the 1991 trial, Ohmer simultaneously prosecuted a case against one of the main witnesses, who, after testifying, had pending felony charges reduced.

But Dunn, with his quest for freedom being led by the same Circuit Attorney’s Office that convicted him, isn’t worried about the politics.

Thursday will be the anniversary of Rogers’ death. Normally, Christopher Dunn fasts during this time, praying that he and Rogers get justice. His wife says that will continue.

It’s something all St. Louisans should pay attention to even in the midst of crime waves, said St. Louis University criminology professor Kenya Brumfield-Young.

“We also have to focus back and say the victims have not received justice truthfully if there’s a person who is sitting in prison who is not the person that committed the offense. That’s why we care,� she said.

Bobby Bostic was cellmates with Johnson and Dunn during his 20-year stint in prison. Bostic was sentenced to more than 241 years in prison for a robbery as a teen but was released on parole last year.

Bostic, too, was happy to hear the news about Dunn’s case was making movement. But with the birthdays, Christmases and graduations missed, it’s still hard to accept.

“It’s a lot harder than most people think. It’s especially hard when you’re innocent. I was guilty. I always looked at those guys like: How do you do it?� Bostic said. “Every day that he’s sitting in there is an injustice.�