Open letter to Filmmaker and Film distributor Ava DuVernay

My name is Marie E. Beale.

I write this letter on behalf Martin Mejias, who once during youth, went by the street name, “Chango”. I contact you with pure and humble intentions to explain his involvement in the Central Park Five case and the events that lead to the exoneration of these young men. During his childhood, Mr. Mejias, his mom and his two siblings have encountered homelessness throughout their entire lives. They lived in a welfare hotel in deplorable conditions. Everyday, he watched his mom clean up blood stains around the bathroom before letting her three children use it. There would be drug addicts and other undesirable strangers entering this building because the hotel had no set of rules or restrictions for visitors.Their living conditions were miserable and inhumane.

Having better days was only a fantasy for Mr. Mejias during his younger and innocent days. This story may seem cliche but like any other kid coming from humble beginnings in the inner city, he meets up with a friend in the streets during his teens. They talk about a plan of making fast money and start acting on it right away. 

Mr. Mejias initial reason for engaging in a life of crime during the early to mid 90s was to cultivate a comfortable lifestyle for himself, his family and his close friends. He did this strictly for survival, not off of peer pressure and social acceptance. Despite the power and luxuries he obtained later in this unsavory lifestyle, a lot of tragedies followed. Mr. Mejias loses friends and associates…both to prison and death on the streets. He also loses his sister to heavy substance abuse, which devastated him the most.

As a young man, the lifestyle was fun and Mr. Mejias admits he got a rush from controlling a part of New York city with an iron fist at one time. Being a prominent figure of the underworld, he was in a position where people didn’t question any orders that were given to them or challenge his authority at all. Later in life, Mr. Mejias eventually learns the hard way that he is not invincible nor exempt from misfortune. It was a matter of time before he paid his dues to society, dearly.

It was 1994 when Mr. Mejias life of crime comes to a close and his prison term begins. He serves a 20 year sentence. Mr. Mejias encounters Matias Reyes, the proven rape/murder suspect in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, in 1997, at the cafeteria in Dannemora/Clinton correctional facility. Reyes and Mr. Mejias developed a good friendship. However, Mr. Mejias is unaware of Reyes criminal background. The two young men conversed about different things, whether it’s reflecting on the choices in their past, their future plans after their bids are done, and events that are happening throughout the day. The respect between them was mutual.

In spring of 2000, Reyes confides in Mr. Mejias one day and admits to being the real rape suspect in the Central Park five case that took place in 1989. Reyes did not want this information to become public knowledge. Mr. Mejias reached out to his former attorney, the late Lynn F. Stewart to look into the Central park case. After Mr. Mejias contacts Lynn Stewart, she sent her husband, Ralph Poynter to visit him and Reyes. Ralph comes to visit the two young men and gives Reyes Lynn’s phone number and address. He wants to know how him and Lynn can give assistance with the central park jogger case.

Attorney Lynn Stewart’s presence in the Matias Reyes situation was minimal according to Mr. Mejias. Just to be clear, Stewart did not represent Matias Reyes. After the engagement with Stewart and Poynter, Mr. Mejias recommends Reyes to get transferred to Merlye Cooper, a program for sex offenders that’s located within the Dannemora/Clinton corrections facility. Then Reyes gets moved to Auburn because he has an altercation with another prisoner during his stay at program. Upon arrival at the Auburn facility, Reyes encounters Corey Wise and the two young men have a physical altercation. During his stay at Auburn, Reyes writes letters and continues keeping in touch with Mr. Mejias at Dannemora. Reyes wanted comfort and moral support while he’s trying to better himself.

Fast forward to the summer and January of 2001, Lynn Stewart contacts the district attorney, Nancy Ryan and faxes a letter to Barry Scheck, lawyer and founder of the Innocence Project. Stewart informs Scheck that Reyes is the real rapist of the Central Park jogger murder/rape case. She also requests for Reyes to have protection while he was in Auburn, due to the heinous nature of his crime. After Stewart makes contact with Scheck, Reyes himself sends a letter to Scheck but he does not receive a response back from him.

The matter with Reyes eventually gets taken to the courts to be investigated separately. As a result of the investigation, the DNA evidence found on the murder victim/jogger, Trisha Meili at the Central Park crime scene of 1989 matches with the DNA of Matias Reyes. Due to the confession and thorough investigation by legal officials involved, the five unjustly accused young men in the Central park case are currently free, with their names cleared, and an opportunity to readjust to living in the outside world. 

Despite Mr. Mejias criminal background and unpleasant circumstances, his choice to exercise good character lead to the closure of these five young men being demonized and condemned by society, mostly mainstream media sources. He took a chance and did what he felt was right. Mr. Mejias didn’t expect any reward out of this event. However, Mr. Mejias does want these young men to acknowledge the fact that Reyes’s confession to being a suspect of the Central Park case was the catalyst for the plot twist in their fate. He mentions that Korey wise was the only one out of the five young men to express immense gratitude to Matias Reyes, despite their tension in the past while incarcerated. “Korey Wise is a humble and respectable dude. He’s the only one who wears “REAL” in his character as a man. The word “REAL” is written all over his face. When he reached back and thanked Reyes for him living life in society now with a clean record, I feel like he’s thanking me too.”

All Mr. Mejias can do is wish these young men the best in their lives while changing the narrative of his own life as a free man. In the midst of fighting for his own freedom while imprisoned and trying to clear his own name, Mr. Mejias still took the time to help total strangers who were in a crisis with a grim future ahead of them. As far as receiving gratitude directly, Mr. Mejias is absolutely right. If he did not encounter Reyes and bring the Central park case to the attention his former late attorney, Lynn Stewart, the release of these five young men would not be possible and “When They See Us” would probably not be considered for a highly anticipated film project that recently aired and received massive views on a trendy, star studded movie platform such as Netflix.

Mr. Mejias says that Matias Reyes is the main reason why the fortunate circumstances of Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam are happening today, despite the nature of the crime that Reyes has confessed to. After all, these once teenage boys are back in mainstream society again as adults without the weight of being permanently labeled as rapist, in addition to their names being removed from the national sex offender data bases and enjoying their financial reward of $41 million from a court settlement with the City of New York in 2014 for discrimination and emotional distress. The Central Park five also pocketed 3.9 million from the state of New York according to the Daily News

Before the five young men sued the city, the charges against the Central park five were withdrawn by the city and all five convictions were vacated. So bashing Reyes for his crime, instead of respecting him for taking total accountability for it would be an obnoxious and distasteful move on the behalf of these five young men. 

When most people in the United States of America were counting out all of these troubled young men of color, as they were serving their prison time, in an unfair justice system, GOD DID NOT! He kept them all alive for a greater purpose today than they had in the past. 

The former career criminal who was once known by his street name “Chango,” former founder of the Yellow Top Crew in New York City, should now be hailed as a HERO who lives life within the law, by his birth name, Martin Mejias. This event alone shows that God is using Mr. Mejias for the good of humanity.

In my personal opinion, Mr. Martin Mejias story should receive the same amount of recognition and celebration on the big screen, just like the five young lives he practically saved with the gift of selflessness, street smarts and “Juice” he was blessed with!

Marie E. Beale