RALEIGH, N.C. — Dontae Sharpe was exonerated in 2019 after spending 26 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Now, two years later, he's asking Gov. Roy Cooper for a pardon.

What You Need To Know

Dontae Sharpe was exonerated in 2019 for a murder he didn't commit

Sharpe spent 26 years behind bars

Sharpe and supporters are calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to grant him a pardon

On Friday morning, there was a rally in downtown Raleigh.

Local civil rights activists want to get the governor’s attention to Sharpe’s request for a pardon. Sharpe says either way, he’ll continue living his life,

“They killed Dontae, while he was alive, they buried this man alive, you’re looking at a miracle," Rev. William Barber II said.

Barber says Sharpe was basically given a death sentence the day he was convicted.

“They buried him for 26 years, intended to kill him, then when they got caught, they opened the door and said 'you can go' but all you get to take with you is what you brought in here," Barber said.

That door was finally opened in August 2019 when Sharpe walked out of prison a free man.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Sharpe was charged with first degree murder at the age of 19.

His petition for a writ of habeus corpus was granted in 2009 and his conviction was vacated 10 years later.

But Sharpe and his supporters say it's not nearly enough.

“This pardon, I'm not begging for it, I'm not pleading for it, I'm just here to put Mr. Cooper, this whole system on notice that I'm gonna keep right on talking," Sharpe said.

According to one of Sharpe’s attorneys, Theresa Newman, a gubernatorial pardon would reaffirm Sharpe’s innocence.

A full pardon also opens the door for Sharpe to be compensated for his wrongful incarceration.

“It also has real practical consequences, it opens the door to a person who receives a pardon of innocence can then apply to the state industrial commission for monetary compensation," Newman said.

Newman says Sharpe is entitled to $50,000 per year. The compensation would cap out at $750,000.

“Mr. Cooper, if you can find it in your heart, man to man, face to face, here today to pardon me, fine, but if not, I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing, I'm gonna keep on living," Sharpe said.

At the end of Friday's press conference at the capitol, Sharpe, Barber and other supporters handed over a letter to one of Cooper's representatives.

The letter called for Sharpe to be pardoned immediately.

Barber gifted Sharpe his stole and told him to give it back the day he is pardoned.