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RALEIGH – After serving 17 years of a life sentence for murder, Greg Taylor became a free man Wednesday after a three-judge panel ruled unanimously that he was wrongfully convicted.

Taylor was found guilty in 1993 for the murder of Jaquetta Thomas.

Since last Tuesday, the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission has been sifting through evidence and listening to testimony. Wednesday marked the first time in North Carolina any inmate had ever been freed through the process, although he’s the third person to try.

Taylor was emotional when the judges read their decision. It was a statement he had been waiting to hear for nearly two decades. He hugged his daughter Kristin outside the courtroom shortly after.

“I’m taking him home,” she said, laughing.

Supporters swarmed the courtroom in downtown Raleigh. After quickly reuniting with his family, an almost giddy Taylor was ready to talk and joke about his victory.

“6,149 days, I thought about what I would say at this minute – and that’s what I have come up with,” he told reporters with a laugh.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Taylor were his family, attorneys, and Jaquetta Thomas’ sister Yolanda. He says that support got him through to today.

“You try not to lay your burdens on people, but you're so helpless in prison,” Taylor said. “It really takes somebody out there to fight your fight.”

He said he wasn’t bitter about the prior conviction, and was ready to move on with his life.

Darryl Hunt, who was in the courtroom Wednesday, knows exactly how Taylor feels. He was released from jail in 2003 after DNA evidence cleared him of rape and murder after he had already spent 19 years in prison.

“There's no greater sense of hopelessness than being rejected by court after court,” Hunt said.

Hunt said after spending nearly two decades in behind bars, it’s tough to transition back to freedom.

“He's going to have a day-to-day struggle to get rid of the nightmare of prison life,” Hunt said. “I've been out six years and I still wake up at 2 a.m. and my wife has to tell me I can go to the bathroom. I don't need permission from the guards.”

Dwayne Dail also knows what that’s like. He was released from jail after 17 years, also cleared by DNA evidence. Taylor says he’ll look to both men for guidance.

“They know what I'm going through right now. They'll know what I'm going through a week from now, a month from now,” Taylor said. “I would be really remiss if I didn't take them up on their support, their advice.”

Defense attorneys say the Innocence Inquiry Commission should be applauded, and Taylor’s case should serve as an example.

“We are the only state in the country that has an Innocence Inquiry Commission. We are the only state in the country that has a state agency where the purpose is to get to the truth, and what could possibly be more important in a justice system than to get to the truth?” attorney Christine Mumma said.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said he accepts the decision by the commission and believes his office followed all proper procedures throughout the 19-year-old case.

But he says he believes part of the reason Taylor is walking free is because of updated technology the defense had at its disposal.

“I wish we had had all of this evidence 17 years ago to present to a jury so they could have evaluated the case. I think that would have been a better way if we had had the evidence available to do that,” Willoughby said. “I am sorry that we didn't have that available and it was presented here today and the judges have ruled and I accept that."