Glynn Simmons, who spent 48 years in an Oklahoma prison for a murder he didn't commit, has died at 72

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 30) — Glynn Simmons, the Oklahoma man who spent 48 years behind bars for a killing he did not commit, died Wednesday morning, his family said. He was 72, a few weeks short of his 73rd birthday.

Family and friends told The Oklahoman he died of complications from cancer, which he had been fighting since he left prison. KFOR reported it was colon cancer.

Simmons was convicted in the December 1974 shooting death of Carolyn Sue Rogers during a robbery at an Edmond liquor store. He always said he had nothing to do with it and that he was in Louisiana for the holidays when it happened, KOCO reported.

An Oklahoma County judge ordered him released in July 2023 after prosecutors agreed that key evidence had not been turned over to his defense. Later that year, the judge declared him "actually innocent." According to the National Registry of Exonerations, no exoneree in the United States has been wrongfully imprisoned longer.

In a statement, his family said he spent "48 years, five months and 18 days" in prison and noted that he chose to stay in Oklahoma after his release because he wanted to build a legacy there, KOCO reported.

After he was freed, Simmons sued Edmond, Oklahoma City and the officers who investigated the 1974 case. In 2024, the Edmond City Council approved a $7.15 million settlement with him.

His attorney, Joseph Norwood, said Simmons faced a second fight as soon as he got out. "He fought it to the end," Norwood said of the cancer, according to News 9.