Carlos K. Ridley
Photograph of Carlos Ridley, courtesy of his daughter, LaTonya Ridley.
‘Rejoice in Peace’
By LaTonya and Michelle Ridley and Kenosha Hines
Carlos’s daughters
Carlos K. Ridley, age 69, passed from this life on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at approximately 8:52 pm at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
He was born on October 23, 1950 in Detroit, MI to Elsie Ridley. He graduated from Detroit Public Schools, worked at Chrysler Group and was very skilled in Martial Arts. He married Albertha Ridley in Detroit, MI.
Carlos leaves to cherish his precious memory 3 daughters and a son: Michelle Ridley, LaTonya Ridley, and Calvin Ridley, all from Detroit, MI, and Kenosha Hines, from Lima, OH. He also leaves behind his sister, Cassandra Ridley, 9 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, a host of nieces/nephews, family and friends.
Carlos was preceded in death by his mother Elsie Ridley, wife Albertha Ridley, sister Carmen Ridley, brothers Raymond Ridley, Bruce (Ricky) Ridley, and Darnell Ridley, who are all truly missed.
He was a loving father, husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather. God blessed us with a man who had so much love in his heart not just for his family, but for others, great sense of humor, down to earth, caring and a man who had integrity!! He was an AMAZING man and OUR BEST FRIEND!! He will forever be truly missed. RIP (Rejoice in Paradise)!!! Love you!!!
Photograph of Carlos Ridley with his daughter, LaTonya, courtesy of LaTonya Ridley, obtained from FOX News.
Photograph of Carlos Ridley’s daughter, Kenosha, protesting the death of her father, courtesy of Kenosha Hines, obtained from Fox News.
Memorial for Carlos Ridley
By Donald Caster
Carlos’s Attorney from the Ohio Innocence Project
When Carlos’s application arrived at the Ohio Innocence Project, we realized that he was likely innocent, and that DNA testing could free him. We are all enormously sad that COVID took Carlos’s life while he was still fighting to prove his innocence.
Carlos was always kind, both to me and the law students assigned to his case. His departure leaves an enormous hole in all of our hearts.
From Mourning Our Losses:
On May 5, 2020, Carlos Kelly Ridley, also known as “Los” to those close to him, died from COVID-19. He was 69 years old. In the years prior to his death, Carlos overcame several other illnesses and fought to return home to the family he loved by seeking exoneration for his conviction.
As Andrew Keiper of FOX News noted in his reporting on Carlos’s passing, the tragedy of Carlos’s death “compounded the alleged injustice of his incarceration.” At the time of his death, Carlos had already served 39 years at Pickaway Correctional Institution in Ohio. Carlos, his family, and his lawyers at the Ohio Innocence Project, which has helped to free 30 wrongfully convicted individuals incarcerated in Ohio, have long maintained that Carlos did not commit the crime for which he was imprisoned.
Carlos’s legal team from the Ohio Innocence Project recently filed a request for DNA testing to prove Carlos’s innocence. But on May 4th—the day before Carlos’s hospitalization and death—a judge in Ohio’s third district court refused to grant this request. This denial was based on a technicality that, as Keiper explains, was ill-founded: the judge “did not believe the court had the authority to submit DNA from Ridley’s case into the state’s database to see if it identified someone else and exonerated him,” even though “two other judges previously ruled DNA could be submitted.”
Donald Caster plans to challenge the judge’s denial of Carlos’s request in the Ohio Supreme Court and to keep fighting for Carlos’s posthumous exoneration. Donald said, “We are all enormously sad that COVID took Carlos’s life while he was still fighting to prove his innocence.” Carlos was one of at least two incarcerated people who died from COVID-19 in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facilities while seeking to overturn their sentences.
Photograph of artwork by Carlos Ridley that he sent to his daughter, LaTonya, courtesy of LaTonya Ridley.
Before Carlos contracted COVID-19, he had already beaten prostate and colon cancer during his incarceration. He also had endured hip and knee replacements. Due to these medical problems, Carlos was infirm and needed to use a wheelchair before he contracted the virus.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Carlos told his family members that he felt very sick. On April 30th, in the last video call his family had with Carlos before he died, Carlos had trouble sitting up straight. As reported by the Associated Press, his last message to his family was, “This has been [a] very hard two weeks. I feel as if I’ve aged at leas[t] 10 years.” In late April, Carlos tested negative for COVID-19, but he still felt ill. He was placed in a housing unit with other individuals in the same situation.
But on May 4th, Carlos was rushed to the Ohio State University Hospital to be treated for COVID-19. Carlos’s family was informed of his hospitalization only six hours before Carlos died.
The Marshall Project reports that, as of July 26, 2020, there were more than 5,100 cases of COVID-19 reported among people incarcerated in Ohio and more than 900 cases among prison staff. Behind Texas, Ohio had the highest number of prison deaths in the country at the time: 88 people incarcerated in the state have died, and many of these individuals were incarcerated in Pickaway. The figure of known cases among people incarcerated is more than 1,400% higher than the rate in Ohio overall, and the death rate is more than 550% higher.
Photograph of the urn containing Carlos Ridley’s remains, courtesy of LaTonya Ridley.
Photograph of a memorial ring commemorating Carlos’s death that LaTonya wears, courtesy of LaTonya Ridley.
Photograph of Carlos Ridley’s urn, laid to rest in Detroit, MI, courtesy of LaTonya Ridley.
After Carlos’s death, his family organized a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to pay for bringing Carlos’s remains back to his home state of Michigan. Thanks to donations from more than 60 people, the family exceeded their $4,000 goal. Demetrius Long, a donor and former cellmate of Carlos’s, shared on the GoFundMe page the impact that Carlos had on his life when they were incarcerated together and the devastation he felt when he learned of Carlos’s death. He wrote:
Los gave me the game my first day in prison, while welcoming me in as his new bunky. He relayed to me, how to respect others and their space and also to fly low under the radar. Los was a very genuine dude. I'd often check on him to see if he had been released or had a upcoming board date. With the Covid-19 pandemic running rapidly through Ohio's prison system something told me to check on him, especially hearing about how things were in Pickaway. My heart dropped when his name didn't come up in the DOC website. I then Googled his name, and seen this. Heart breaking is an understatement. Just unbelievable. Prayers to his family and God rest his soul…
Carlos was laid to rest in the same cemetery as his wife, Albertha, and his mother, Elsie, back in Michigan. His daughter, LaTonya, said, “I’m at peace that he's home...he's FINALLY FREE.”
This memorial was written by MOL team member Charlotte Finegold with information from reporting by Andrew Keiper of FOX News, Andrew Welsh-Huggins of the Associated Press, and The Marshall Project. The GoFundMe for Carlos’s end-of-life expenses is available here: his family has kept the page active in order for Carlos’s friends and former cellmates to connect with his family.
