On August 4, 1992, Vernon Huggins was found beaten to death in Toledo’s Wilson Park.  The first TPD officer in charge of the case made no arrests and, after months of inactivity, two new officers took over.

Their focus turned to a group of friends who were between the ages of 16 and 24.   Eric Misch, 16 at the time, recanted the confession he made after hours of intense interrogation.  But it didn’t matter.  Louis Castilla, Jr., Joseph Rickard, and Misch were each convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Seeing what had happened to their friends, Lorenzo Vasquez and his brother, Mel (Ismael) Vasquez accepted Alford pleas rather than go to trial.

Only after years of public records requests did Misch’s attorneys (from the Ohio Public Defender’s Wrongful Conviction Project), finally receive over 100 pages of reports implicating other defendants.

In 2024, after Misch was granted a new trial, the Lucas County Prosecutor dismissed the case.  The cases of the other 4 defendants were dismissed the following year.  But the dismissals were all ‘without prejudice,’ meaning the prosecutor could file charges if new evidence is uncovered. 

It is highly unlikely that any evidence of guilt will surface; after all, many of the players are dead or cannot remember the case.  And the only evidence that has surfaced was exculpatory; favoring the defendants.  Nonetheless, such a ruling prevents these men from obtaining compensation for almost 3 decades in prison for a crime they didn’t commit.

Their only recourse is to re-try the case.  Their motions for new trials have been granted and now it will be up to the Lucas County taxpayers to subsidize the state’s cases against Misch and company which will take years.