Ava DuVernay To Create Central Park Five Netflix Miniseries

Source: Financial Juneteenth

Ava DuVernay will be creating a limited series on the Central Park Five for Netflix.

Created, produced, and written by DuVernay, the five-episode series will chronicle the story of the 1989 case where five teens — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman, Trisha Melli, in Central Park, up until their exoneration in 2014.

READ: 3 Of The Central Park Five Receive Honorary High School Diplomas

"I had an extraordinary experience working with Netflix on 13th and am overjoyed to continue this exploration of the criminal justice system as a narrative project with Cindy Holland and the team there. The story of the men known as Central Park Five has riveted me for more than two decades. In their journey, we witness five innocent young men of color who were met with injustice at every turn — from coerced confessions to unjust incarceration to public calls for their execution by the man who would go on to be the President of the United States," DuVernay said.

The currently unnamed series is set to land on Netflix in 2019.

READ: Detroit Man Freed After 41 Years In Prison For Murder He Didn’t Commit

Recently, three of the Central Park Five recently received honorary degrees and were given the opportunity to celebrate their high school graduation. In a report from the New York Times, Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson and Raymond Santana, all in their 40s, received their honorary diplomas in caps and gowns alongside nearly 60 teenagers from the Bronx Preparatory High School earlier this week.

"Even though we were not able to go back and right the wrong of not getting our high school diplomas outside, here we are being honored in such a way in front of our family and friends," Salaam reportedly said from the stage. "This is a blessing."

H/T: Dave Itzkoff