T.J. Jimenez
Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez was arrested for murder when he was 13. He spent 16 years behind bars until a judge ruled that he’d been wrongfully convicted. He was freed and awarded $25 million in compensation for his lost years. Then, T.J. became a self-appointed leader of a street gang.
Jimenez won a $25 million wrongful-conviction verdict for a killing when he was 13, then lavished cash on his gang. After his 12-year term, “I think he wants to lead a normal life,” his lawyer says.
“I’ve never had an officer involved in the arrest and investigation of a client voluntarily testify they got the wrong guy,” Francisco Benitez’s lawyer said of former gang investigator Joe Sparks’ testimony.
In the face of the city’s violence, Cecilia Mannion refuses to give up hope. The former gang member relentlessly pursues peace and healing.
In what became a viral cellphone video, Earl Casteel was seen shot in the legs by Thaddeus ‘T.J.’ Jimenez in a bizarre case recounted in the 2019 Sun-Times/WBEZ podcast.
Featured in the 2019 podcast ‘Motive,’ he was found dead Monday in his office at the Uptown People’s Law Center, where he worked for a decade and answered thousands of inmates’ letters.
He’d asked Illinois’ appeals court to toss the charges in the caught-on-video attack because he already was convicted of a federal gun charge stemming from the same shooting.
The Chicago gang figure was featured in the serial podcast last fall from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Chicago.
As we conclude this story, we find some answers about what motivates T.J. Jimenez — from T.J. himself.
With millions of dollars in his pocket, T.J. invested in his old gang — and started a war on Chicago’s West Side.
T.J. and his attorney file a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the City of Chicago, but how will living through the details of the trial affect T.J.?
At the age of 17, TJ walked into Stateville prison and had to grow up fast. Though he was later exonerated in 2009, his prison scars never quite healed.
It was a cruel sociological experiment: Lock up a 13-year-old boy for a murder he swore he didn’t commit. Release him as a 30-year-old man. Then give him $25 million.
In the podcast Motive by WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frank Main explores the life of Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez and the ripple effects of his wrongful conviction, including his release and his decision to spend his new fortune on building a gang.
Meet Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez, a Chicago man who spent 16 years in prison for a murder he swore he didn’t commit. With $25 million from a wrongful-conviction lawsuit, T.J. bought a gang. “Motive” is his story.
T.J. Jimenez’s mother Victoria says she did her best to keep her son out of gangs. In this episode of ‘Motive,’ we learn about what he was like as a kid.
After he’s arrested, T.J. is sent to a juvenile detention center in Chicago. In Episode 3 of “Motive,” those who knew T.J. when he was in juvie speak out.
In February 1993, Eric Morro was shot outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Avondale. In this episode of “Motive,” T.J.’s old friend Larry Tueffel takes Frank Main back to the crime scene to tell him how it all really happened.
On May 1, 2009, T.J. became a free man. He won his $25-million lawsuit against the city, found a girlfriend and had two kids. But trouble seemed to find T.J. wherever he went.
T.J. spent 16 years in prison, going from a boy of 13 to a 30-year-old man. What impact did prison have on him? The latest episode of “Motive” looks at the worst of what prison can do to you. Brian Nelson, a former leader of T.J.’s gang, explains.
At the age of 17, TJ walked into Stateville prison and had to grow up fast. Though he was later exonerated in 2009, his prison scars never quite healed.
T.J. and his attorney file a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the City of Chicago, but how will living through the details of the trial affect T.J.?
With millions of dollars in his pocket, T.J. invested in his old gang — and started a war on Chicago’s West Side.
As we conclude this story, we find some answers about what motivates T.J. Jimenez — from T.J. himself.