The Clinton Avenue Five are five young men who disappeared on August 20, 1978, in Newark, New Jersey. The name is derived from the street where they were last seen. The case eventually went cold. The five teenagers were: Melvin Pittman, aka "Ricky", 17 Ernest Taylor, 17 Alvin Turner, 16 Randy Johnson, 16 Michael McDowell, 16 In November 2008, while in police custody on an unrelated charge and after a 13-hour interrogation, Philander Hampton confessed involvement in murdering the boys. Hampton said he and his cousin, local contractor Lee Anthony Evans, had lured the teenagers to his former Newark residence (256 Camden Street) with the promise of employment. Angry at the boys for stealing marijuana from his home, Evans had Hampton hold two of them at gunpoint while he rounded up the other three. The boys were led to a third-floor bedroom closet at gunpoint and locked in. Evans then set the house on fire with five gallons of gasoline, and all five boys perished. After making this confession, Hampton led investigators to the site of the fire, where authorities searched the grounds for human remains using sonar equipment, but none were found. To date, the remains of the five boys have not been found. Arrests On March 22, 2010, Evans and Hampton were arrested and charged with felony murder and arson. Each was held on $5 million bail at the Essex County Jail. Shortly thereafter, Rogers Taylor, a brother of victim Ernest Taylor, said that in 2008 Evans had confessed to him his involvement in the murder. Despite this confession, Judge Peter Vazquez noted Evans' strong ties to the community, his lack of a criminal record, and the prosecution's difficult case as reasons for his decision to lower bail from $5 million to $1.25 million and then to $950,000. Evans' family posted this amount in the form of three pieces of property. Evans was released from jail on August 20, 2010, the 32nd anniversary of the teens' murders. Trials Philander Hampton pleaded guilty to the murders at his August 2011 trial and was sentenced to ten years in prison plus $15,000 in relocation expenses upon his release. He was released from custody on February 27, 2017. In September 2011, Floria Turner-McDowell (not a relative of victim Michael McDowell), mother of victim Alvin Turner, had her son declared dead and filed a wrongful death suit against Evans and Hampton two