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Who Are the Central Park Five?
On April 19, 1989, jogger Trisha Meili was brutally attacked and left for dead in Central Park. Once she was found in the bushes in the early morning hours of April 20th, the New York Police Department collected a group of five young teenage boys and interviewed them, the oldest among them was only sixteen.
Each of them were unable to correctly describe the victim or the event, and later stated their confessions were provided because they were told they could go home if they confessed.
They were sentenced to prison for between five to thirteen years each without any DNA evidence.In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to the attack on Meili, and stated he was the only attacker. DNA from Meili’s rape kit was matched to Reyes. The five prisoners who were originally convicted for this crime, all now grown men, were officially exonerated.
Formerly referred to as the “Central Park Five,” these men now refer to themselves as the “Exonerated Five” They sued the City of New York racial discrimination and emotional distress. The city settled the case for $41 million. Korey Wise donated a portion of his settlement amount to the University of Colorado – Boulder to create the Korey Wise Innocence Project in Colorado. Kevin Richardson partnered with the Innocence Project based out of New York. Raymond Santana is a clothing designer. Yusef Salaam is an author and social justice advocate, who was elected in 2023 to city councilman for District 9 of New York. Not much is written about Antron McCray, but it is reported that he is living a quiet life with his children somewhere in the south.
The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
While this book is not about the Exonerated Five, it is a true story about the pattern of incarcerating innocent people, and one man’s mission to end that pattern. A must read.
