The West Memphis Three (West Memphis, Arkansas, 1993)

In May 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—were found murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The victims were bound, beaten, and shot. The initial investigation focused heavily on three teenage boys known as the West Memphis Three: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. Despite dubious evidence and allegations of bias, the trio were convicted in 1994. Their convictions have been widely criticized as miscarriages of justice, and they were eventually released in 2011 after entering Alford pleas, maintaining their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them.