RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Nevest Coleman has returned to his job as a groundskeeper at Guaranteed Rate Field after being wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years for a crime he did not commit; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, In 1994 Nevest Coleman was a 25-year-old groundskeeper at Comiskey Park and a church-going father of two when he was arrested for the rape and murder of a young woman; and
WHEREAS, For more than two decades, Nevest Coleman was separated from his family and the job he loved until DNA evidence proved he did not commit the crime; and
WHEREAS, On November 17, 2017 Nevest Coleman's convictions and life sentence were vacated and he was set free to return to his now adult children; and
WHEREAS, The DNA evidence pointed to a known serial rapist who went on to commit three more crimes; and
WHEREAS, Nevest Coleman recalled how he often watched White Sox games in prison, especially the team's 2005 World Series Championship and yearned to return to his old job; and
WHEREAS, Upon his release from prison, the Chicago White Sox organization reached out to Nevest Coleman and asked him to come back to work as a groundskeeper, an offer that he gladly accepted; and
WHEREAS, Over the decades the stadium has changed its name and added more lights and electronic signs, but a few familiar faces have remained to greet him; and
WHEREAS, Nevest Coleman, now 49, said that his long stint behind bars was "miserable," but that he found strength in the support of his family as he returned to his job on March 26, 2018; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this eighteenth day of April, 2018, do hereby congratulate the Chicago White Sox organization for helping to restore Nevest Coleman's life by returning him to his former position as a groundskeeper; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented ...
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