Woman finally regains freedom after 22 years behind the bars for a crime she didn't commit (Photos)

42-years-old Tyra Patterson was convicted in 1994 for being an accomplice to murder because she witnessed her friend kill another girl.

Patterson has now been released and was reunited with her family on Christmas Day after celebrities joined a long-running campaign to free her.

According to report, she had always maintained her innocence after being convicted in the murder and robbery of 15-year-old Michelle Lai in Cleveland, Ohio.

Patterson claims police forced her into confessing to a robbery she never committed, which opened her up to an aggravated murder conviction.

She did not fire the shot that killed Lai, but under Ohio law accomplices can be handed the same punishment as killers.

Patterson was finally allowed to walk free after 22 years behind the bars for a crime she didn't commit on Monday when she hugged family members and shouted: ‘Let’s eat and open gifts!’