‘The mission just began’: Ferrone Claiborne of the ‘Waverly Two’ released after decades behind bars

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Ferrone Claiborne, the second of the two Virginia men who spent decades in prison for the 1998 murder of a Waverly police officer after a federal jury found them not guilty, was released from prison on Tuesday.

In the morning on Tuesday, April 8, Claiborne was released from FCI Petersburg Medium in Prince George County.

This comes just over a month after Terrence Richardson, the first of the pair known as the "Waverly Two," walked free from the same prison.

Upon his release, Claiborne and Richardson reunited, which Claiborne said came as a complete surprise.

"I told him I was excited to see him, especially outside of these walls, especially out of there," Claiborne said.

(Photo: Lindsey West/8News)

Claiborne explained what this freedom means to him after spending years behind bars.

"I know I can't get back the years that I lost spending with him, but I'm looking forward to making new memories and like I said, the journey has been long, but the mission just began," Claiborne said.

On April 25, 1998, in the town of Waverly in Sussex County, police officer Allen Gibson was shot and killed in the woods behind the Waverly Village apartment complex. Claiborne and Richardson were then charged with murder and found not guilty through a lengthy court process, but were sentenced to life in prison.

Their sentences were commuted as a result of then-president Joe Biden's action shortly before leaving office.

8News has been following this case since 2017, with then-investigative reporter Kerri O’Brien beginning her research into the Waverly Two in 2016.