A former U.S. Navy petty officer who was imprisoned almost three decades before he was exonerated in the killing of his ex-wife in Lake County has settled a lawsuit for $13 million, his lawyers said Monday.

Herman Williams, who served 28 years for murder, settled the lawsuit he filed in 2023 against Lake County and a number of police officers, county officials and police departments, whom his attorneys said manipulated evidence to secure a conviction for the 1993 murder of Penny Williams.

Penny’s body was found in a shallow pond at the Midlane Country Club in Waukegan in September 1993. At the time, she and Herman Williams were divorced and were the parents of two young children. Herman was a chief petty officer assigned to the Naval Station Great Lakes, and he and his ex-wife were living together platonically in Gurnee.

Herman was arrested, charged with the murder and found guilty in 1994. He was sentenced to life in prison.

After decades of trying to prove his innocence, Williams saw his conviction vacated in 2022 after Lake County prosecutors admitted that law enforcement officials altered evidence to help gain a conviction. Williams filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 against police departments and municipalities, Lake County and the Major Crime Task Force.

“Not only did he lose more than 28 years of his life and suffer in prison as an innocent man, but his two children, who were only six and three years old at the time of Penny’s murder, grew up without either of their parents, and worse, under the mistaken belief that their father murdered their mother,” said attorney Antonio Romanucci, who represented Williams.

“Since Herman was exonerated, he has reconciled with his children and is fighting every day to restore his life and his relationships,” Romanucci said.

Williams, 61, has been an Arizona resident since he was released from prison.

“While Herman can never get back the years he spent in prison as an innocent man, we hope this settlement will help him close this painful chapter in his life and find peace in the years ahead,” said attorney Brian Eldridge, whose firm also represented Williams.

A spokesman for Lake County did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. No one else has been charged in the murder of Penny Williams.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/lake-county-false-conviction-award/