Whatever Happened to Robert Davis?

In 1978, Robert Davis was the youngest child to ever be sent to New York’s Rikers Island Jail. He was Black, from the Bronx, and only thirteen. In this episode we look into Robert Davis’s life. We explore his old neighborhood in the South Bronx, his old

An episode of the Shoe Leather podcast, hosted by Columbia Journalism School, titled "Whatever Happened to Robert Davis?" was published on May 18, 2021 and runs 40 minutes.

May 18, 2021 ·40m · Shoe Leather

Summary

In 1978, Robert Davis was the youngest child to ever be sent to New York’s Rikers' Island Jail. He was Black, from the Bronx, and only thirteen. In this episode we look into Robert Davis’s life. We explore his old neighborhood in the South Bronx, his old middle school, and the media frenzy that surrounded his case. We explore how Robert was sucked into a riptide of tough-on-crime political theater that had consumed the country and New York City. And we try to find out where he ended up four decades later, long after his story had faded from the limelight and the city had forgotten his name.

Episode Description