Last week, the state of New York reached a $40 million payout to settle a civil lawsuit with the “Central Park Five “– a group of Black and Latino teens accused in the 1989 rape of a 28-year-old White female jogger in Central Park.
The “Central Park Five” ranged from ages 14 to 16, all serving full terms (between 5 and 15 years) for sex related convictions, they did not commit. The suspects were depicted as savage members of a “wolf pack” participating in a gang rape fueled by what was known was “wilding,’ or going “bezerk” as the New York Daily News wrote back in 1989. Although they were all minors, each had their printed in the media.
There was no physical evidence tying the teens to the heinous crime, yet all five of the suspects were found guilty and sentenced to between 5 and 15 years behind bars. Four of the suspects, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise, Antron McCray, were reportedly coerced into signing submitting a video and written confessions. The other suspect, Yusef Salaam, refused to sign a confession, but was implicated by the others.
A quarter-century after the controversial case linked these five strangers together forever, Hip-Hop Wired takes a look back at the timeline of events involving the “Central Park Five” case. A convicted murderer confessed to the crime back when he was over a decade after it was committed. DNA resting proved his admission.
Check out the trailer for The Central Park Five documentary below, and visit the gallery for a timeline.
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Photo: AP
April 19, 1989
28-year-old investment banker Trisha Ellen Meili is ruthlessly attacked in Central Park. She wasn’t found until 1:30 a.m., four hours after the assault. Meili suffered blood loss, a severely fractured skull and other injuries doctor’s believed she would not survive. Remarkably, she recovered but didn’t remember anything from the assault. Authorities assumed that she was attacked by multiple suspects, given the brutality of the crime.
April 20 -22 1989
Police arrest the suspects. The boys are reportedly coaxed, threatened, and beaten into confessing. They retract the admission after they are formally arrested.
June 25, 1990
Opening arguments begin in the trial against three of the suspects, Salaam, McCray and Santana.
August 1, 1990
Salaam takes a chance. He goes against the advice of his lawyers and testifies in his own defense, denying that he raped and beat Meili. The teen admits to being in the park on the night of the attack along with about 50 other wayward youngsters beating another victim. He said he never so, nor touched, Meili.
September 20, 1990
Teens Salaam, McCray and Santana are sentenced to the maximum 5-15 years in a jail. They were tried as adults.
October 22, 1990
The trial against Richardson and Wise begins. A month later, Wise testifies that police beat, lied, and tricked him into a confession. He also said officers took him to the the crime scene and forced him to smear the victim’s blood on his clothes.
December 11, 1990
Jurors find Richardson and Wise guilty. All convictions are upheld at appeal.
Sept. 24, 1996- August 12, 2002
McCray is freed on Sept. 24, 1996, Salaam is released on March 21, 1997 at the age of 23. Richardson is released on June 25, 1997, Santana was let out in June 12, 1998, and Wise, the last of the incarcerated Central Park five, was released August 12, 2002 after serving over 11 years.
January 2002
Convicted rapist and murderer Matia Reyes (pictured above as a teen) admits to attacking Meili back when he was 17.
Dec. 19, 2002
The five convictions against the Central Park 5 are tossed.
Dec. 9, 2003
The wrongfully convicted men of the Central Park 5 file a $250 million civil lawsuit against the City of New York.
The city of New York and the men reached a $40 million settlement on June 19, 2004. Each of the wrongfully accused will receive about $1 million each.
