They were teenagers aged 14 and 16 when they were sentenced to life imprisonment. They spent 36 years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit. In 2019 they regained their freedom when it turned out that they had been wrongly convicted and in 2023 life surprised them for the better: they received compensation of 48 million dollars.

The crime that landed them in prison took place in 1983 and according to TV Azteca, the families of these three young men did not give up and continued to look for legal channels to help them.

The wrongly convicted people are Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart.

The victim of that murder was another boy, 14 years old. They took DeWitt Duckett’s life when they went to take away his school jacket, Tv Azteca explained.

Colombian who spent 25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit gets compensation: they give him $18 million

How they were released

News of the compensation was announced late last week in Baltimore, United States.

“These are men who went to prison as teenagers and came out as young grandfathers in their 50s,” said Justin Conroy, chief legal counsel for the Baltimore Police Department, according to CNN.

His words were addressed to the city’s Board of Estimates before the panel approved the payment on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

But how were they freed? After serving 36 years in prison, Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were ultimately found not guilty.

The amazing feat that uncovered the truth was possible after Chestnut filed a public records request, CNN noted.

With this legal move, justice emerged: “he discovered new evidence that had been hidden from his lawyers during the trial.”

That was enough to contact Baltimore’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which was reviewing old sentences.

According to the three men’s lawsuit, from 2020 and cited by the American Network, “investigators ignored eyewitness evidence and physical evidence that contradicted the chosen narrative, including evidence pointing to another suspect.”

Instead, they “distorted the evidence to implicate prosecutors, even coercing young witnesses to give false statements.”

The Crime of 1983: “The Harlem Park Three”

Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart decided to skip school one afternoon in November 1983 and visit their old high school, Harlem Park Junior High School. Infobae explained to put what happened into context.

That day, the murder of DeWitt Duckett, the 14-year-old teenager, was recorded.

All eyes fell on Chestnut, Watkins and Stewart. They soon became known as ‘The Harlem Park Three’.

Hours later, authorities found a Georgetown Starter jacket, like the one worn by DeWitt Duckett, the murdered young man, in Chestnut’s home.

Even though “Chestnut’s mother had a receipt and witnesses could not identify any of the three in the photos, police records show,” they ended up in jail. They were tried as adults, Infobae reported.

United States: Man spent 37 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit; witness has thought that he saw him at the crime scene

Justice takes time, but it will come

“On November 25, 2019, three days before Thanksgiving, a judge entered the writ of factual innocence (filed by the plaintiffs and the State of Maryland) and ordered his immediate release,” the lawsuit continues.

According to Infobae, “witnesses told police they saw Michael Willis, 18, leave the school and throw away a gun, and that he was wearing a Georgetown jacket that night.”

Documents have surfaced showing that several students identified the shooter as a fourth person named Michael Willis, who was killed in West Baltimore in 2002.

The Baltimore flag

Reactions after compensation

The three men, Infobae noted, also received $2.9 million from the state of Maryland three years ago, “under a compensation plan designed for exonerated individuals.”

Now, with the agreed compensation of 48 million dollars, the reactions are once again reaching the press.

“No amount of compensation can right the wrongs of 36 years of unrest and the residual impact on these men, their families and communities,” said Council President Nick Mosby, who also heads the Board of Estimates.

Each of the men, Infobae indicated, “will receive $14.9 million and the law firm that represented them, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, will receive $3.3 million, according to legal documents.”

According to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, “our city is in a position where in 2023 we will literally have to pay for the misconduct of (Baltimore police) decades ago.”

According to Mosby, quoted on CNN, “nothing in this world can compensate for the mental and emotional trauma these innocent men and their families have suffered.” (JO)