(CNN) After serving nearly 28 years in prison, a Philadelphia man was freed after authorities publicly acknowledged that police and prosecutors had evidence that pointed to other suspects.

Chester Hollman III, 48, was released Monday from a state prison in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright had ruled that Hollman was "likely innocent" of the 1991 killing of Tae Jung Ho.

"I don't think it's really hit me yet still. Just this morning, I learned that this was happening. I'm still a little in shock, disbelief," Hollman told CNN affiliate KYW.

"Knowing that you're in prison for something that you didn't do and trying to convince people that you're not lying, your innocence is true, it's real, it's an uphill battle," he said.

Hollman was convicted of robbery and murder in Ho's death in 1993 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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