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Who is Eric Riddick? Meek Mill helps to free Philadelphia man wrongly imprisoned for 30 years

'They say it takes a village to raise a child. I guess it takes a village to raise justice, too,' Eric Riddick said after his release

Three decades ago, Philadelphia resident Eric Riddick was convicted of the murder of William Catlett, based on the testimony of only one eyewitness. He was sentenced to life in prison. His mother Christine believed in her son's innocence and fought for her son's release for years. Eventually, her persistence led Philadelphia Councilman David Oh to join the fight and ultimately secure the release of Riddick with a pardon from Governor Tom Wolf. 

The case gained national attention after rapper Meek Mill advocated for Riddick's release. According to NBC News, he had met Riddick in prison when he was sentenced for violating probation. As Riddick walked free on Friday, May 28, 2021, he said, "I feel great, I feel great. They say it takes a village to raise a child. I guess it takes a village to raise justice, too." Rapper Meek Mill celebrated his release by saying, "We turned them back tables into pyramids and then we left the building!"

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Who is Eric Riddick?

Riddick was convicted in 1992 of murdering William Catlett, who happened to be his childhood friend. Police stated that Catlett was killed in a drug dispute and Riddick was accused of the murder.

According to NBC News, Riddick always maintained that he was two blocks away with three friends on the night of the murder. However, his court-appointed defense attorney failed to call his three friends as alibi witnesses to testify during the trial. In fact, Riddick insists that his attorney did not put on any defense. 

The trial was entirely dependent on one eyewitness, who identified Riddick as Catlett's shooter, based on which he was convicted. However, he recanted his statement in an affidavit in 1999, which Riddick didn't receive until 2003. By then, it was too late for filing an appeal based on the same. 

In 2012, forensics firearms expert William Conrad examined and found evidence against Riddick being the shooter. In 2017, two judges who had rejected his appeal admitted there was a flaw in the system. They stated that it was "clear to all that it is likely that an innocent man sits behind bars for no better reason than a poorly conceived statute."

Securing Riddick's release

While Riddick's mother had been knocking on doors for decades to secure her son's release, inside prison, rapper Meek Mill had met Riddick and heard about his case. After his release, Mill approached Marc Howard, a criminal justice teacher at Georgetown University. 

In 2019, three students of Georgetown started reinvestigating Riddick's case and uncovered new information. They met with Riddick's lawyer and Patricia Cummings to explain his innocence. The following month, District Attorney Larry Krasner brought out over 1,000 pages from the original prosecutor's files which included reports suggesting Riddick was not a suspect. 

Riddick's release was soon facilitated by the Conviction Integrity Unit, though he is not being formally exonerated in the case. Eventually, the deal entailed that Riddick was an accomplice in the shooting but not the shooter. 

In the video retweeted by Meek Mill, Riddick's mother can be seen celebrating his freedom as they slowly moved through the crowd with smiles on their faces.