‘No amount is enough’
Park 5 say hurt remains 25 yrs. later Our childhood lost, critics full of hate
THREE of the he men wrongly convicted in the 1989 Central entral Park jogger attack spoke Friday y about their $41 million settlement with h the city, saying no money can compensate sate for their lost youth and dignity.
One of them hem could not contain his emotions.
“Y’all don’t ’t really understand what we went through,” h,” Kevin Richardson, now 39, said, his voice cracking and tears filling in his eyes. s.
He paused. d. A co-defendant, Raymond Santana, put t his hand on his shoulder. “Take your time,” someone said. After composing himself, Richardson continued.
“People called alled us animals, wolf pack,” he said. “It still ill hurts me emotionally.”
Richardson, n, Santana and Yusef Salaam gathered d outside City Hall, a day after city Controller ntroller Scott Stringer approved the tentative settlement of the lawsuit they and two other co-defendants ndants — Antron McCray Cray and Kharey Wise se — filed against t police and prosecutors.
The deal will go before U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts for approval within two weeks, lawyers for the men said.
The Central Park Five had sued for $250 million.
“Today’s supposed to be a day of victory, of a celebration, and when I look back on these past 25 years with labels of ‘wolf pack,’ ‘super-predator’ ... it’s unbelievable the injustice that we have suffered throughout all these years and that we continue to suffer today,” said Santana, 39, who along with Richardson works for 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East.
“My childhood was taken from me.”
Salaam struck a more positive note, saying the settlement added weight to their innocence.
“It seems like justice is starting to be restored,” said Salaam, 40, who works in information technology. “We can now put smiles on our faces and breathe a bit of relief.”
Wise was not present because of a conflicting engagement, and McCray does not live in New York, lawyers said.
The victim in the 1989 attack was found in the brush of Central Park, her skull smashed and bleeding badly.
She was in a coma, suffered permanent damage and remembers nothing about the attack. The five defendants were all teenagers when they were arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned.
They were set free when career criminal Matias Reyes confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence confirmed he was responsible.
At the news conference Fri- day, Santana and his sister had harsh words for Donald Trump, who called the payout “a disgrace” in a June 21 op-ed for the Daily News.
“I see a lot of anger and hate, starting with him,” Jo-Ann Santana said of Trump. “We still have a long way to go for unity.”
Raymond Santana questioned the spray of hateful words from conservative talking heads about the lengthy legal case.
“The Donald Trumps, the Ann Coulters, the bloggers who still say that we’re guilty ... they just can’t let it go,” he said. “We’re innocent. What more do we have to
prove?”