Dr. Yusef Salaam
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Dr. Yusef Salaam
 
 
 
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The Exonerated 5

On April 19, 1989, a young woman in the prime of her life was brutally raped and left for dead in one of New York City’s most iconic spaces, Central Park. Five teens from Harlem—Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise—were tried and convicted of the crime in one of the most frenzied cases in the city’s history. The woman was dubbed the “Central Park jogger,” and the accused teens became known collectively as the “Central Park Five.” Yusef Salaam, was just 15-years-old when his life was upended and changed forever.

 
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“While out for a jog in Central Park, a young woman was knocked down, dragged off the roadway, brutally raped and left for dead.”
— April 19, 1989
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Five teens from Harlem—four black and one Latino— were coerced into confessing to the crimes following 30 hours of interrogations. ”
— April 20, 1989
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The boys were indicted on counts including attempted murder, rape, assault, and rioting.”
— April 27, 1989
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Donald Trump, then a local real estate developer, paid $85,000 to take out full-page ads in all of New York’s major papers calling to bring back the death penalty for the teens.”
— May 10, 1989
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After a six-week-long trial, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, and Raymond Santana were convicted of the attack, despite numerous inconsistencies between their initial confessions and the facts of the case.”
— August 18, 1990
“Korey Wise and Kevin Richardson were convicted.”
— December 11, 1990
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“The New York Times reported that known rapist, a now-31-year-old Matias Reyes, confessed to the Central Park Jogger attack.”
— June 12, 2002
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After a DA’s office investigation matched Reyes’ DNA to the semen from the rape kit a judge overturned the Five’s convictions.”
— December 19, 2002
“The NYPD completed an internal review of its management of the case. Despite the new evidence and overturned convictions they claim they found no wrongdoing on the part of its officers.”
— January 27, 2003
“After a court battle that lasted over a decade, New York City settled a civil rights lawsuit brought by the Central Park Five for $41 million dollars.”
— June 19, 2014
“During an interview, Oprah Winfrey, said the world had known the men as “a derogatory headline for decades” but now she hoped they would be known as “the Exonerated Five.””
— June 2019