The West Memphis Three refers to three teenagers—Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jesse Misskelley Jr.—who were convicted in 1994 for the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The case drew significant media attention due to the controversial evidence and the perceived influence of the teenagers' interest in heavy metal music and the occult. After years of legal battles and public outcry, new DNA evidence emerged in 2007 that did not link the three to the crime. In 2011, they were released from prison after entering an Alford plea, which allowed them to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them.