I remember this case like it was yesterday because it felt like it could have been my family -- coming to New York (from Utah) to go to the U.S. Open only to be attacked by a group of young men on a subway platform in Midtown Manhattan. When they slashed his father and knocked his mother down and kicked her in the head, their brave son (Brian Watkins) stood up for them -- only to be stabbed to death. It was later reported that the men said they needed money to dancing at Roseland Ballroom (huh???). The son could have been me, minus the bravery, and the tragedy galvanized public outrage over violent crime in New York -- which had become legendary through the 1970s and '80s -- and finally got police to do something about it.
Read People magazine's report from 1990 HERE.
Well, in a scene straight out of the Central Park Five, a judge has ordered a new trial for one of the men convicted for the crime, who has spent nearly 25 years behind bars. Johnny Hincapie, 43, began to sob uncontrollably when the judge read his decision after months of anticipation. Sadly, it sounds like more police corruption and another coerced confession of a teenager. I don't know what really happened that awful day, but here's hoping this man will finally get a fair trial. He and the family of the victim deserve justice. Read HERE.
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