Isaiah Wright, Last Chance U: The Latest on His Trial

Isaiah Wright was one of the stars of the first two seasons of Last Chance U, but the running back is currently on trial for his alleged involvement in a homicide. The Daily Times detailed Wright’s alleged involvement in the crime.

According to police reports, Green, Hopewell and two other men, Isaiah Wright of Harriman and Camion D. Patrick, of Knoxville, met Radford [the man who was murdered] at an apartment complex on July 25. Police believe that Patrick and Wright then remained behind while the others rode on an errand to buy the drugs, and that Radford was stabbed during that car ride. Police and prosecutors said they believe the stabbing was premeditated.

Radford, an early graduate of William Blount High School who played varsity football, was found bleeding from multiple stab wounds in the area of Topside Road and Buck Drive on the evening of July 25. He was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Alcoa police reported.

After playing at EMCC, Wright transferred to West Georgia, where he went through spring practice in 2017. According to 247 Sports, Wright ended up leaving the team prior to the start of the season, and was living in Bloomington, Indiana.

According to Wright’s older brother Eszmone Patrick, who was also featured on the show as the Lions’ team manager, Wright is currently living with their other brother, Camion Patrick, in Bloomington, Indiana, possibly in hopes of playing for the Hoosiers. Camion Patrick is also a veteran of EMCC, having played in Scooba before transferring to Indiana. In July, the Hoosiers placed Patrick on medical hardship, effectively ending his college career. Indiana sources have told 247Sports that the Hoosiers’ staff is neither aware of Wright’s presence in Bloomington nor of any intention on Wright’s part to join the football team.

Isaiah Wright Is Still Awaiting a Decision in His Trial

The homicide occurred on July 25 in Alcoa, Tennessee. Last Chance U did a special episode featuring some of Wright’s trial. Adam Ridley, a Last Chance U director, spoke with Uproxx about the series decision to feature the trial, and the challenges some of the players on the show face when they return home.

Isaiah’s situation was pretty much what prompted us to do the follow-up episode. We were allowed to film his initial hearing, so we’ve got a lot of that footage, and we interviewed the victim’s family as well. But he was with two people who allegedly murdered somebody, and now he’s in jail awaiting a grand jury hearing to see whether he’s guilty of being an accessory — there’s no charge yet.

But this all happened in his hometown, and he was only back in his hometown because he dropped out of school. Here was a guy, had to go the JuCo route, had offers from West Virginia and Florida State before Season 2, then he got a concussion, he tweaked his ankle, he had conflicts with his head coach, and the only offer he ended up getting was Division II West Georgia. He wasn’t satisfied with that, so he dropped out and was just hanging out at home. And his background, that’s the tragedy of his conflict with Buddy. This is somebody who didn’t really have a family, and there’s this father figure he ultimately felt betrayed by. It’s horrible. It’s definitely the worst outcome of any of the kids.

As Ridley mentioned, Wright is not being charged with the murder, as the charges relate to him potentially being an accessory to the crime. Wright’s attorney believes his client “misspoke” to police, and this is the main reason Wright is being brought into the case. USA Today provided an overview on the latest details on Wright’s trial.

His lawyer, to the cameras, explains that Wright — who he feels has the maturity of a high school kid — misspoke after prolonged and intense questioning and was essentially telling police what they had been telling him (that defense mirrors one in another famous Netflix documentary, Making a Murderer, in which a young Brandon Dassey is shown giving what many believe to be a coerced confession.) Nonetheless Wright is sent back to prison to await a grand jury hearing (while the other two defendants had their hearing and have been indicted, Wright appears to still be waiting … on $1 million bond.)