Dixmoor 5

The Dixmoor 5 are five African-American men who, as teenagers in Dixmoor, Illinois, were falsely convicted of the November 1991 rape and murder of 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews. At the time of arrest, the defendants, Robert Taylor, Jonathan Barr, James Harden, Robert Lee Veal and Shainne Sharp were all between the ages of 14 and 16.

During high-pressure interviews, three of them gave false confessions leading to convictions for all five. The teens alleged that they were coerced into confessing, claiming they were physically abused and threatened during their interrogations. One of the boys who confessed had an IQ of 56 and developmental disabilities. Two pleaded guilty and testified against the others in exchange for shorter sentences. Both men have since recanted their testimony. Each received at least 80 years in prison.{{cite news|title='Dixmoor 5′ Sue Over Wrongful Rape, Murder Convictions|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/17/dixmoor-5-sue-over-wrongful-rape-murder-convictions/|agency=CBS Chicago|date=October 17, 2012}}{{cite news|title=Background on Dixmoor and Englewood cases |url=http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Background_on_Dixmoor_and_Englewood_cases.php |access-date=June 21, 2014 |agency=Innocence Project |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113075330/http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Background_on_Dixmoor_and_Englewood_cases.php |archive-date=November 13, 2011 }}

In 2011, DNA tests connected semen on Cateresa to another man, Willie Randolph, a convicted sex offender who had recently been released on parole. Randolph was later charged on September 1, 2016, for the rape and murder of Cateresa Matthews.{{cite web| url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-dixmoor-five-arrest-met-20160831-story.html| title = Sex offender charged in 1991 rape, murder that led to Dixmoor 5 case | website = Chicago Tribune| date = September 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160901225919/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-dixmoor-five-arrest-met-20160831-story.html | archive-date = September 1, 2016 | url-status = dead }} A suit filed by the five men alleges police withheld exculpatory evidence, including the DNA, from their defense teams.{{cite news|last1=Janssen|first1=Kim|title=Dixmoor Five, wrongly convicted of murder, sue police|url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/15806517-418/dixmoor-five-wrongly-convicted-of-rape-sue-police.html#.U6XsyPboct4|agency=Chicago Sun Times|date=October 17, 2012}} Their convictions were vacated November 3, 2011, and those remaining incarcerated were released.Steve Mills and Andrew Grimm, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/11/03/convictions-vacated-in-91-rape-slaying-of-dixmoor-girl/ Convictions vacated in '91 rape, slaying of Dixmoor girl], Chicago Tribune, 2011-11-03. Accessed online 2012-11-18.

In 2014, they reached a wrongful conviction settlement with the state of Illinois for $40 million, the largest wrongful conviction settlement in state history.{{cite news|last1=Mills|first1=Steve|title=$40M for five wrongly convicted of Dixmoor rape, murder|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-isp-agrees-to-pay-40m-to-five-wrongly-convicted-of-dixmoor-rape-murder-20140624,0,7268612.story?track=rss|agency=Chicago Tribune|date=June 25, 2014}}

On August 20, 2024, Jonathan Barr, one of the Dixmoor 5, was shot to death during a mass shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, in the South Side of Chicago. He was 46 years-old.{{cite news|last1=Williams-Harris|first1=Deanese|title=1 dead, 1 critically wounded and at least four others injured in mass shooting in New City neighborhood|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/21/1-dead-1-critically-wounded-at-least-four-others-injured-in-mass-shooting-tuesday-evening-in-new-city-neighborhood/|agency=Chicago Tribune|date=August 21, 2024}}