LOCAL

Father who was wrongly imprisoned sees son graduate from Goshen College

After serving 22 years for a crime he didn't commit, Eddie Bolden sees his son graduate Goshen College

Lincoln Wright South Bend Tribune
South Bend Tribune

GOSHEN — Eddie Bolden buried his face in his hands trying to hold back tears. His son Dominique, "Dom," hadn't even stepped on the stage at Goshen College's graduation Sunday, and the 46-year-old's emotions were already getting to him.

He had missed 22 years of moments in Dom's life. He wasn't there for birthday parties, the first day of school, basketball games, holidays, Dom's high school graduation.

Because for the last 22 years, as Dom grew up, Eddie sat in an Illinois prison, wrongly convicted of killing two men. It was just this year that he was exonerated, and only last week that Eddie was freed.

"Dominique Bolden," was announced at the graduation, and in his black cap and gown, the 21-year-old crossed the stage. Eddie was now looking up, tears running down his cheek, his eyes red from crying. He clapped and watched as his son received his diploma, on his face the smile of one proud father.

"I was anxious to see him walk across the stage," Eddie said Sunday. "I can't stop crying."

After the ceremony, it was an emotional embrace for the father and son. They got to be like a regular family, something Dom never remembers being. His father entered prison not long after he was born.

Standing in a campus courtyard, Eddie gave Dom a card with a childhood photo inside. They posed for pictures with Dom's brother and Eddi's other son Antonio Johnson, 24, and other family members there celebrating.

Dom said it was a good feeling having his brother and father there supporting him. They always have supported him, he said, but now they can be there to show it.

Dom, who grew up in Chicago, played high school basketball at Whitney M. Young Magnet School and started his college career at Parkland College, a junior college in Champaign, Ill., before transferring to Goshen in 2014 to play.

"This is a very important day," Dom said. "I can't put it in words. It's a great feeling."

Now a free man, Eddie said he's living in the moment. He's only focused on the present and future, not looking back at the years he spent behind bars. He didn't sleep for the first two days out. At night, he would just sit in the dark and stare at the wall with an uncontrollable fear someone would come and lock him back up.

"I couldn't believe that I was out," he said.

But Eddie always maintained his innocence through the years. It was thanks to the effort of Susan Carlson, a commercial photographer turned private investigator, that he was freed.

Carlson, who died in 2013, discovered three witnesses who were not interviewed by Eddie's defense team. Those witnesses testified that Eddie was in another location at the time of the murders. The judge ruled that the evidence provided by one of those witnesses was credible enough that it would have led to Eddie's acquittal if jurors had heard it at the original trial.

Though he knew he was innocent, there were times over the 22 years that Eddie said he wanted to give up. It was thanks to his family, his two sons, that he was able keep fighting. Dom's mother, grandmother and aunt worked hard to give him a relationship with his father.

Dom spoke to his father often on the phone, and family members would take him to visits at the prison. On those visits and on the phone calls, Eddie said he would beg his sons not to give up on him. They promised that they wouldn't, Eddie said, and they didn't.

It's because of his son's faith in him he survived.

"You all are the reason I didn't give up," Eddie said through tears to his sons on Sunday. "There were days that I didn't want to live. The only thing that stopped me from giving up is that I knew it would hurt you all. I thank you for being my reason to live."

Although the two boys were an inspiration for Eddie, his struggle also had a profound effect on Dom and Antonio. For Dom it was continued motivation to not give up in school.

"Seeing his situation and how he refused to give up and how hard that was, compared to that school is nothing," Dom said. "Why would I give up school when he's fighting his way through that?"

But all of that is behind the family now. Dom said he's focused on making new memories with his dad. And Eddie is enjoying the little things with his new freedom. Things like getting to eat when wants to, and walking through doors that don't lock behind him.

Simply being able to do what he wants to do, Eddie said.

"It feel great," he said. "I fought for it for 22 years, and if feels just like I thought it would feel."

lwright@SBTinfo.com

574-235-6324

@LWrightSBT

Eddie Bolden, right, hugs his son Dominique Bolden following the Goshen College commencement ceremony on Sunday at Goshen College. Eddie Bolden was imprisoned for 22 years for murders he didn't commit. Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
A tear rolls down Eddie Bolden's face as he watches as his son, Dominique Bolden, cross the stage during the Goshen College commencement ceremony on Sunday at Goshen College. Eddie Bolden was imprisoned for 22 years for murders he didn't commit. Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
Eddie Bolden becomes emotional as he watches as his son, Dominique Bolden, cross the stage during the Goshen College commencement ceremony on Sunday at Goshen College. Eddie Bolden was imprisoned for 22 years for murders he didn't commit. Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
Dominique Bolden poses for photos with family members following the Goshen College commencement ceremony on Sunday at Goshen College. Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
Eddie Bolden becomes emotional as he watches as his son, Dominique Bolden, cross the stage during the Goshen College commencement ceremony on Sunday at Goshen College. Eddie Bolden was imprisoned for 22 years for murders he didn't commit. Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN