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John —
It was the best news I’ve heard in all my life — that’s how I describe getting word that I would be free after spending 19 years in prison for a crime I didn’t commit.
Termaine Hicks was released from SCI Phoenix Prison on Dec. 16, 2020, in Collegeville, Penn. His brothers Tone Hicks and Tyron McClendon greeted him upon release. (Image: Jason E. Miczek/AP Images for the Innocence Project)
After my Innocence Project lawyer, Vanessa Potkin, called to tell me that I’d be getting out, the other guys on the cell block were shouting and banging on doors, celebrating because they were so happy for me. It was truly such an amazing moment, but it made me think of all of the other happy moments I missed out on in my years of wrongful incarceration.
And I know I’m not alone. That’s why the work the Innocence Project does is so important to me. So today, I’m asking you to please make a donation before tomorrow’s deadline to help support their work in freeing innocent people like me from prison.
I was 26 when I was walking home and heard a woman screaming for help. When I got to the alley where she had been dragged to, I saw that she had been attacked and was badly injured. I was reaching for my phone to call 911 when the police arrived, responding to neighbors’ calls. They shot me three times in the back. After they realized I was unarmed and didn’t match the description of the attacker, the Philadelphia police embarked on a massive cover-up of their mistake. At my trial, multiple officers lied under oath, and I was wrongly convicted of attacking the woman I tried to help.
I survived being shot that night, and nearly two decades of wrongful imprisonment by maintaining strong bonds with my family and fighting for my freedom from my cell. Getting out was such a triumphant day for me and my family — but my thoughts and prayers were also with the countless others who won’t ever be able to come home. Those who will continue to miss out on happy moments with their loved ones.
I was forced to miss watching my son grow up into the man he is today. Now, God willing, I’m hoping that I’ll be around for my grandson. But the moments I missed during my 19 years of wrongful incarceration are precious memories that I’ll never get to have.
We’ve got to do everything we can to ensure that others don’t have any more of those moments stolen — so please, if you can, make a donation to the Innocence Project right now to support this crucial work.
Thank you for everything,
Termaine Hicks
Exonerated in 2020
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