Central Park Five: Innocence Lost to Injustice

On April 19, 1989, investment banker Trisha Meili went jogging in Central Park, Manhattan, and never returned home that night. She was found severely beaten, raped, and left in a coma—dragged into the bushes where she had been attacked. The crime would shock New York City and trigger one of the most infamous wrongful conviction cases in American legal history.

The attack occurred during the crack epidemic, when crime in New York City was at its peak. That evening, dozens of teenagers entered Central Park, with reports of muggings and assaults on multiple victims, including male jogger John Loughlin. Within hours, five youths were arrested: Antron McCray (15), Kevin Richardson (14), Yusef Salaam (15), Raymond Santana (14), and Korey Wise (16). All were Black or Latino, part of a larger group of roughly 33 youths roaming the park.

What followed was a cascade of failures by the criminal justice system. Four of the five confessed to police after interrogations lasting 14 to 30 hours—confessions they would later recant, claiming coercion. The confessions were riddled with inconsistencies, contradicting each other and conflicting with physical evidence. Critically, DNA analysis of semen recovered from the victim matched none of the five defendants. No physical evidence—no blood on clothing, no forensic link—connected any of them to Meili's attack.

Yet in 1990, after a jury deliberated for 10 days, all five were convicted of assault and rape. A sixth defendant, Steven Lopez, had charges dropped after pleading guilty to assaulting John Loughlin. The five served between 7 and 13 years in prison and youth facilities.