Former Greensboro resident LaMonte Armstrong talks about his wrongful conviction in the death of a neighbor, N.C. A&T professor Ernestine Compton based on the testimony of liars and slipshod GPD detective work. He was absolved and freed after 17 years behind bars through the work of Duke University Law School Wrongful Convictions Clinic. Armstrong on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in Burlington, N.C.
LaToya Armstrong runs to hug her father, LaMonte, in June 2012 after his conviction was thrown out. The Wrongful Convictions Clinic got the case reopened based on the fact that no physical evidence tied him to Ernestine Compton’s death. A new review of the evidence by the clinic, prosecutors and police found that a palm print taken at the crime scene belonged to another suspect.
Greensboro native LaMonte Armstrong (left) is joined by Duke University law professor James Coleman on June 29, 2012, after a judge threw out Armstrong’s 1995 murder conviction and subsequent life sentence after a court hearing exonerated him in the 1988 killing of N.C. A&T professor Ernestine Compton. In December 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory issued Armstrong a “pardon of innocence.”
LaMonte Armstrong, shown on Sept. 27, 1978, had taken classes from Compton. He graduated from N.C. A&T in 1975 with a degree in physical education.
Former Greensboro resident LaMonte Armstrong, who was wrongfully convicted and long imprisoned, died recently, according to a statement from the Duke University legal program that won him his freedom.
The tweeted message Friday from Duke law school's innocence project did not say what had caused the 69-year-old Armstrong's passing, noting only that it was "with sadness that we say goodbye."
It is with sadness that we say goodbye to LaMonte Armstrong. LA now rests among the angels. He had a big heart and smile that filled a room. In December, he spent 2 days paying off other people's layaway. He always paid it forward! His absence leaves a hole in our hearts. RIP LA. pic.twitter.com/qhZrLZVcjT
— DukeInnocence (@DukeInnocence) August 16, 2019
"LA now rests among the angels. He had a big heart and smile that filled a room," said officials at the Duke program that works to free people who are wrongfully convicted.
Armstrong, who went on to live in rural Alamance County, won his freedom in 2012 after 17 years in prison. He was freed when new evidence emerged that he was not involved in the 1988 killing of N.C. A&T professor Ernestine Compton in her Pichard Street home.
Then-Gov. Pat McCrory issued Armstrong a “pardon of innocence” in 2013, leading to a subsequent payment of $750,000 from state government for his improper incarceration.
The soft spoken, college educated Armstrong later won $6.42 million from the city of Greensboro and its insurers to end a civil suit that he brought in federal court.
Armstrong initially had been found guilty in 1995, seven years after the Compton murder, partly because of flawed police work. The State Bureau of Investigation also played a role by failing to accurately identify a palm print left at the crime scene by another man thought to have been Compton's actual assailant.
After winning his settlement in the federal lawsuit three years ago, Armstrong told the News & Record that he did want not his multi million-dollar windfall to change him in any way. He said he planned to continue working as a peer counselor at a Durham nonprofit.
"It seems the more that I continue to be of service to my fellow man and help people, the more God continues to serve me," he said.
In their post on Friday morning, officials at the Duke wrongful convictions program indicated their former client stayed true to his word.
"In December, he spent 2 days paying off other people's layaway(s). He always paid it forward!" they said. "His absence leaves a hole in our hearts. RIP LA."
Wrongful Conviction Clinic
Greensboro native LaMonte Armstrong, shown in June 2012, was released from a life sentence after he had spent 17 years in prison for a murder it was later proven he did not commit.
LaMonte Armstrong
Lamonte Armstrong
LaMonte Armstrong, shown on Sept. 27, 1978, had taken classes from Compton. He graduated from N.C. A&T in 1975 with a degree in physical education.
Ernestine Compton
Ernestine Compton, a 57-year-old physical-education professor at N.C. A&T, was found dead inside her Greensboro home on July 12, 1988. She had been strangled and stabbed several times. Detectives floundered in their early efforts to find her killer but years later charged LaMonte Armstrong, leading to his wrongful conviction.
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
LaMonte Armstrong (center), freed after his wrongful conviction, attends his first Durham Bulls baseball game with James Coleman (left) and Theresa Newman, co-directors of the Duke University School of Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic, and others from the law school clinic on July 26, 2016.
Lamonte Armstrong letters
The Duke University School of Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic has an extensive collection of letters that LaMonte Armstrong wrote to the clinic over the years as its staff members and a team of law students worked to establish his innocence.
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
Tierra McClain helps LaMonte Armstrong find his seat as he attends his first Durham Bulls game with Theresa Newman and James Coleman co-directors of Duke University Law School Wrongful Convictions Clinic and others from the law school clinic on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Durham, N.C.
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
LaMonte Armstrong attends his first Durham Bulls game with Teresa Newman and James Coleman co-directors of Duke University Law School Wrongful Convictions Clinic and others from the law school on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Durham, N.C.
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
LaToya Armstrong runs to hug her father, LaMonte, in June 2012 after his conviction was thrown out. The Wrongful Convictions Clinic got the case reopened based on the fact that no physical evidence tied him to Ernestine Compton’s death. A new review of the evidence by the clinic, prosecutors and police found that a palm print taken at the crime scene belonged to another suspect.
Lamonte Armstrong free
Greensboro native LaMonte Armstrong (left) is joined by Duke University law professor James Coleman on June 29, 2012, after a judge threw out Armstrong’s 1995 murder conviction and subsequent life sentence after a court hearing exonerated him in the 1988 killing of N.C. A&T professor Ernestine Compton. In December 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory issued Armstrong a “pardon of innocence.”
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
In this June 2012 photo, LaMonte Armstrong enters court before a hearing where he was found innocent of murder and set free after he had spent 17 years in prison.
Contact Taft Wireback at 336-373-7100 and follow @TaftWirebackNR on Twitter.
