Teenager Pedro Hernandez: a twisted tale of juvenile justice chronicled in series
A couple of months ago, on my podcast, One Mother's Voice, I featured a news story about Pedro Hernandez, a Bronx, NY teenager held at Rikers Island in NYC for allegedly shooting another teenager in the leg in 2015, a charge which he denies.At that time, Hernandez refused a plea deal offered by the Bronx DA, preferring to take his chances at trial. He had hoped to get out on $250,000 in time to take advantage of a full scholarship for college. Eventually, a judge reduced his bail and a local bail fund put up $100,000.But, Hernandez's story is much more complicated according to journalist Shaun King, who is doing a series of articles detailing what he describes as "the most painful, traumatic, outrageous, outlandish, over-the-top story of government sanctioned police brutality, wrongful imprisonment, wrongful convictions, forced testimony, widespread corruption, money, lots of money, and deep, deep, deep soul-snatching psychological abuse in modern American history."Follow this series, "Soul Snatchers: How the NYPD's 42nd Precinct, the Bronx DA's Office, and the City of New York Conspired to Destroy Black and Brown Lives (Part 1)" for the full story.