Law360 (November 9, 2026, 5:53 PM EST) -- A Colorado man has requested more than $1.92 million in compensation from the state for spending nearly three decades in prison due to a since-overturned conviction for shaking to death a 4-month-old girl, who experts later found had likely died of natural causes.

On Friday, Stephen Martinez filed a petition in the Second Judicial District of Colorado arguing state law entitles him to the compensation because he was imprisoned for nearly three decades after he was wrongly convicted of violently shaking the girl to death. Although his conviction was initially upheld on appeal, Martinez won his freedom earlier this year when a state court granted his motion for postconviction relief.

Colorado state law entitles exonerated defendants to $70,000 for each year that a defendant spent wrongly incarcerated for a felony. According to his petition, Martinez was incarcerated for 27 years and 186 days, meaning he is entitled to over $1.92 million. He said he is innocent, and thus entitled to the statutory compensation, despite having initially confessed to the crime. 

"New evidence about false confessions demonstrates that Mr. Martinez's statements were unreliable, a result of psychological coercion, and ultimately, false. The physical evidence contradicts the statements, and nothing corroborates them," the petition read. The filing added that Martinez is seeking "compensation for the years that were wrongly taken from him."

In July 1998, Martinez began dating a coworker, Kimberly Barr, a month after she gave birth to her daughter, known in the court filings as H.M. The child suffered from breathing and lung issues and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit after she was not getting enough oxygen, according to the petition.

The mother and daughter were both ultimately discharged from the hospital, though H.M. continued to suffer from respiratory issues, the filing said. A doctor noted at H.M.'s 10-week checkup that she had recently developed a fever and upper respiratory infection.

In October 1998, Barr needed to go to the bank, an errand that took less than 15 minutes, and left Martinez to watch H.M. Martinez said he laid H.M. down for a nap, though shortly afterward, he began hearing her "choking and gasping," according to his filing.

Martinez found H.M. "choking and aspirating blood," and called 911 telling the operator that H.M. had been sick with an upper respiratory infection, and that she was turning purple. Martinez followed the operator's instructions and performed CPR until paramedics were able to arrive, he said in the petition.

H.M. was taken to the hospital, and upon her arrival, doctors noted she had an "occipital skull fracture, subdural hematoma, and prominent pulmonary disease." The doctors attempted to save H.M. but she died at the hospital.

Police immediately began investigating H.M.'s death as a case of child abuse and zeroed in on Martinez as their primary suspect. Martinez and Barr both provided initial statements to police in their home, according to the petition, which also noted Martinez was crying and distraught.

Martinez was arrested the night H.M. died, signed a waiver of his Miranda rights and was interrogated by a police detective for over an hour, he noted in his filing. He told detectives during the interview that two and a half weeks earlier, he fell while holding H.M. after tripping over a telephone cord, according to the petition.

Martinez asked to stop the interview halfway through, though the detective ignored him and continued to ask questions, he said in the filing. The detective said Martinez's story "did not add up," and that H.M.'s injuries must have occurred the morning she died, according to the petition.

The detective continued the questioning, and at one point said Martinez could get a "more lenient sentence" if he admitted he shook the child. Martinez eventually told the investigator he slammed H.M. into her crib.

Martinez was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of H.M. and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the filing.

A Colorado appeals court overturned Martinez's conviction but a reversal by the state's supreme court in 2003 meant Martinez would remain in prison for life. Martinez filed a motion for postconviction relief in April 2026, telling a court he had new evidence showing he was innocent.

Seven experts said they found new evidence proving Martinez was not guilty of the killing, and that he was made to give a false confession to police. The experts found that while H.M. did have head trauma, it was not the cause of her death, and that it was in fact lung disease that was the cause. The Denver District Attorney's Office conceded that Martinez was entitled to postconviction relief, citing ineffective assistance of Martinez's trial counsel.

Martinez was granted the relief and his murder conviction was thrown out based on the newly discovered evidence. In his Friday filing, Martinez argued he is now entitled to compensation because of the exoneration.

An attorney representing Martinez and a spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General's Office did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Martinez is represented by Jeanne Segil and Seth Temin of the Korey Wise Innocence Project and Perry L. Glantz and Raegan M. Compton of Stinson LLP.

Counsel information for the state was not immediately available.

The case is Stephen Martinez v. State of Colorado, case number 2026CV33988, in the Second Judicial District of Colorado.

--Editing by Covey Son.

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