After spending three decades behind bars, two mentally disabled half-brothers were exonerated on Tuesday after DNA evidence proved that they did not rape and murder a child in 1983.

Robeson County Superior Court Judge Douglas B. Sasser ruled that Henry Lee McCollum, 50, who was sentenced to death, and Leon Brown, 46, who was sentenced to life in prison, were innocent in the 1983 rape and killing of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie of North Carolina, reports the New York Times.

McCollum and Brown quickly repudiated their confessions, which they claim were coerced by police. However, they were only freed after new DNA evidence implicated a man who lived a block away from where the victim's body was discovered. The man also admitted to a similar rape and murder during that time.

McCollum was 19 and Brown was 15 years old when they were charged with raping and killing Buie by stuffing her underwear down her throat. Although no physical evidence connected McCollum or Brown to the crime, a local teenager said that McCollum was suspicious since he and is half-brother had recently moved to the area.

"This case highlights in a most dramatic manner the importance of finding the truth," said Ann Kirby, attorney for Brown, according to the Telegraph.

"Today, truth has prevailed, but it comes 30 years too late for Sabrina Buie and her family, and for Leon, Henry, and their families. Their sadness, grief, and loss will remain with them forever."

"We waited all these long years for this," said James McCollum, the father of the man released from death row. "Thank you, Jesus," he said.

"I have never stopped believing that one day I'd be able to walk out that door," he told The News & Observer.

"A long time ago, I wanted to find me a good wife, I wanted to raise a family, I wanted to have my own business and everything," he said. "I never got a chance to realize those dreams.

"Now I believe that God is going to bless me to get back out there."