Ricky Jackson, America’s longest-serving wrongly incarcerated prisoner, has revealed he is now the father of a young daughter and is encouraging everyone facing adversity to “keep on going.”
According to a Daily Mail report, 66-year-old Jackson spent 39 years in prison for a murder he did not commit before he was exonerated back in 2014, and since his release, has been fully focused on rebuilding his life.
“I spent 39 years in anger and loneliness,” Jackson exclusively told Daily Mail ahead of National Wrongful Conviction Day.
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Jackson recalled being offered a deal during his 1975 trial to plead guilty to the murder for a reduced sentence, although he had not committed the crime. He did well to decline the offer across the years, and is now a free man inspiring many others who find themselves in a similar situation. “But I have an opportunity to be better, otherwise it’s just prison all over again. I just couldn’t do it”.
“I was under so much pressure to plead guilty. (Police) beat me, woke me up at night, told me I’d burn like a pig… They said I’d get out sooner, but how could I plead guilty to what I didn’t do?”
Jackson’s refusal to take the plea even led to a death sentence and decades on death row in his time in prison, including extended periods in solitary confinement.
He was only 18 years old when the incident unfolded as he was sentenced in 1975 for the murder of Cleveland businessman Harold Franks. Jackson and two other Black men, brothers Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman, were convicted based solely on the testimony of 12-year-old Eddie Vernon, who at the time, claimed to have witnessed the crime.
It was later revealed years on that police had coached Vernon on what to say just to get Jackson convicted of murder. In 2013, Vernon then recanted his testimony, and surprisingly revealed he had been on a school bus blocks away from the scene.
His admission then led to Jackson’s exoneration and release in 2014. Jackson was awarded $2 million in compensation from the state upon his release, yet many believed he deserved more than that sum for all the harm that was afforded him in prison for close to four decades.
For now, Jackson is focused on his young daughter, and aims to guide her to the top as he believes a fresh start always works best in these situations. “I was picking up my young daughter from school and this is my new life now.
“I would never have believed it if you’d told me back in prison.” People expected Jackson to hold a grudge against Vernon, whose false testimony led to his years of youth being stripped of him. Instead, Jackson forgave him and emotionally embraced Vernon after his release in 2014.
“I hated Eddie Vernon for years, but there was a lot I didn’t know,” Jackson said. “The police kidnapped this kid, just like me.”
Jackson has been trying to stay abreast with the new technologies after his release, yet insisted that navigating his cell phone is one of the biggest challenges he is currently facing.
“People would call me, and I’d keep accidentally hanging up by hitting the wrong number,” he said.
Despite the hardship he endured for many years, Jackson revealed that he is thankful for the second chance to live and make a difference, knowing what that means for any ex-convict.
He now often visits schools and prisons to share his story, hoping to inspire others who share a similar journey. “I try to tell them that despite everything you’re going through, keep going,” Jackson said. “I grew up with the same adversity as these kids, and I tell them, ‘You have to believe in your destiny.’”
Jackson’s story was chronicled in the 2022 documentary ‘Lovely Jackson’, which touched on how he “clung to the truth of innocence” for nearly 40 years.
Jason Flom, executive producer of the film who also happens to be criminal justice advocate, called Jackson’s story “an inspiration, and one that many can never imagine”, come to talk of surviving.
“He had an experience that none of us could even begin to imagine, and somehow he survived to the other side with gratitude,” Flom said.
Flom re-released ‘Lovely Jackson’ in New York this week to mark National Wrongful Conviction Day, and emphasized the ongoing issue of wrongful imprisonment in the U.S. as one that needs attention, considering how far the nation has come. “It’s shocking that it even still exists in this country,” he said.
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Jackson continues to make a difference by the day. However, his focus lies on raising his young daughter to be fearless, knowing she can attain any feat she desires should she stay true to herself.
