Jack Lawrence

Hosted and produced by Jack Lawrence.

Editing and sound design by Jack Lawrence and Dom Evans.

This podcast is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hello and welcome back to One Minute Remaining.

My name is Jack Lawrence, the host and creator of this show.

Today is part six and the final part for now of my chat with Evaristo Salas Jr., the man who was convicted of murder at just 15.

Now in his 40s and with less than three years to go on a 30-year sentence, Jr.

continues to fight to clear his name.

As we know, Evaristo Salas Jr.

is found guilty of murder, shooting Jose Aurelio twice in the head.

The judge would tell him that if he could give him a life sentence, he would, but he can't, so instead he sentences him to the maximum that he possibly can, 30 years.

Junior, a child, is now headed to a men's prison, a place where gangs rule with fear and violence.

The population segregates themselves by race, and predators prey on the weak.

I'm sure most people listening to this right now would understand that prisons are not safe places.

But to really spell out how dangerous it can be for a youngster in a men's prison, shortly after a 16-year-old was booked into Florida's Polk County Jail in February of 2012,

His three cellmates punched him, whipped him and nearly strangled him with a pillowcase.

They would then urinate on him, spray his face with cleaning fluid and strip him naked before wrapping a sheet around his neck, tying the other end around the window bar and pulling it so tight he would lose consciousness.

They would repeat this attack three times over the course of several hours without jail guards on regular rounds ever noticing.

So now let's try and place ourselves in Junior's position.

Take yourself back to when you were just 15 and try to imagine that you're being led into a giant building surrounded by fences, guard towers and barbed wire.