Cleveland teen convicted of murder based solely on recanted testimony of a 12-year-old witness

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ricky Jackson spent nearly four decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit, making his case the longest proven wrongful imprisonment in United States history.

Jackson was just 18 years old when he was convicted in 1975 of killing a man during a robbery in Cleveland. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. His conviction rested almost entirely on the testimony of a single witness — a 12-year-old boy who claimed he saw the shooting.

Years later, that same witness admitted he had not seen anything at all. He said Cleveland police had pressured and coached him, feeding him details until his story aligned with their investigation. Carrying the burden of that false testimony into adulthood, the witness eventually recanted.

With the help of the Ohio Innocence Project, Jackson’s conviction was overturned. In 2014, at the age of 57, he walked free after serving 39 years, 3 months, and 9 days in prison.

The emotional weight of the case deepened years after his release when Jackson and the former child witness met in a church. In a powerful act of forgiveness, Jackson chose to forgive the man whose testimony had cost him most of his life.

Jackson’s story highlights systemic issues in the criminal justice system, including the dangers of relying on uncorroborated eyewitness testimony — especially from children — and the profound human cost of wrongful convictions.