At 14 Raymond Santa spent 7 years of his life in jail for something that he did not do, by 1995 he was released from the juvenile facility and changed his life around for the. Raymond is now an activist, designer, and public speaker, he is actually the one that came up with the idea to make their story a movie.
Korey Wise was actually not a suspect in the case until he went to the station with his friend Yusef for support. Even though Korey had nothing to do with the attack, he ended up getting the worst punishment out of all of the boys. At 16 Korey was sentenced to 15 years in prison but got released early from serving 13 years because the person that actually attacked Trisha Meili. Years after his release Korey is now a public speaker and activist.
Yusef Salaam was only 15 when he was convicted of rape and assault, he recently did an interview where he stated how guilty he still felt that his friend Korey Wise had to spend 13 years of his life in prison while he only got 6 years just because he went to the station to support his friend. Yusef is now a poet, activist and inspirational speaker, he tries to express the importance of education and how being incarcerated has an effect on inmate's lives outside of jail.
When Antron was arrested he was just 15 years old, his father and mother both supported him. Antron's father knew what it was like to be interrogated and go to jail so he told Antron his just confess and the police will help him but Antron actually ended up spending 6 years of his life behind bars because he thought what his father was telling him was going to help him. After spending 6 years in jail and works as a forklift operator, unlike the others, he has chosen to stay out of the spotlight and live a regular life with his family.
At 14 Kevin Richardson was accused of the attack of Trisha Meili because the hairs found at the scene looked like his, before even running a test on the hair the police suspect just because it looked like his, he did it. After serving 6 years in jail, Kevin is now a criminal justice advocate and talks to the public about his experience with the justice system and in jail.Years after the 5 men were released from jail, they all received $41 million as a group for spending years behind bars and being innocent the entire time. The Central Park 5 could have let what happened to them bring them down and be angry but, they have decided to start families and help educate people in their communities about the justice system and the importance of education.
This story is a prime example of the justice system simply failing. It really disgusted me how these boys were treated and manipulated by officers to get them to confess and call out their friends. There was no backing, no evidence that lead them to these five. I read that when released, Antron was still furious at his father for making his speak. Antron's father passed away before he got out, and I'm sure he was dealing with a lot as he could have been the reason Antron was serving jail time. I believe that Antron's father obviously had the right intentions, he wanted his child out of trouble and away from these manipulative officers, so he was convinced by the officers that the only way he could go home was by saying what he did. No doubt, all the blame should be put on the manipulative officers who interrogated the teens, but Antron's father was put in one of the toughest situations one can be put in. The Central Park Five did receive quite a bit of money, but that will never make up for their childhood and big part of their lives taken away because of these officers. This is certainly a nightmare story, and it is extremely unfortunate that in our country, racial tendencies and bias play roles in the justice system.
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