A St. Louis County jury cleared Hasaan Grace, 23, of University City of a second-degree murder charge, believing his arguments that he feared for his life when he shot Reco Freedman, 15, on Oct. 17, 2002.
The shooting happened outside Grace’s apartment.
An autopsy found two bullet wounds to Freedman’s back and two more to the back of his head.
Grace admitted he twice told a false story to police - his attorney said he did so out of fear of being charged with murder - and later ditched his gun in the river.