WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderRockford man free after 1993 murder charges dropped

Rockford man free after 1993 murder charges dropped

By Samantha Ptashkin

ROCKFORD (WREX)- A 50 year prison sentence gets cut short for a Rockford Man convicted of murder. Prosecutors dropped all charges against 35-year-old Alan Beaman. Beaman was accused of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lockmiller, in 1993.

For the past 13 years his life has revolved around the murder case. Now Beaman hopes to concentrate on his future. "What's done is done. I can't get those 15 years back, so I'm not going to really worry about that. I guess I try to focus on where I'm at now and what opportunities I can see in front of me," Beaman said.

Through the years Beaman saw many setbacks in court. After his 1995 conviction an appeals court upheld his conviction twice. Then last May the Illinois Supreme Court thew out that conviction. Beaman got out of jail in June and has been living at home with his parents in Rockford ever since.

Even though Beaman's name has been cleared in court he said he'll always have to live with people second guessing his innocence and he can't get those precious years back. "I think I'll probably always kind of wonder when meeting new people, how are they going to take this, what are they going to think about this."

"Now at this point the charges have been dropped, so I guess its as if it never happened. Unfortunately it did. He lost 13 years of his life," said Carol Beaman, Alan's mother.