Support for an 18-year-old inmate at Rikers Island has grown exponentially after the disturbing details of his story were covered by New York news outlet PIX 11.

Pedro Hernandez, who was arrested last year in connection with a shooting in the Bronx, has been locked up on Rikers Island for a year. Although the teen was offered a lucrative plea deal that would have wiped his record and left him with five years on parole, he refused to take it in order to maintain his innocence. 

The 2015 shooting took place outside a Bronx grocery store and resulted in another teenager getting shot in the leg. In Hernandez’s case, at least eight eyewitnesses have come forward to say Pedro is innocent. Even the victim said he was not shot by Pedro and he was pressured by NYPD Officer David Terrell to name Pedro as the suspect.   

In the past, Terrell, has been captured on video shooting craps over the fate of another arrestee and is currently suspended from street duty and has had his gun and badge suspended amid internal affairs investigations.

When it comes to Hernandez, his family alleges that Detective Terrell made unwanted sexual advances toward Hernandez's mother for several years and tried to pressure her into dating him by harassing and arresting her son.

Hernandez nor his family has been able to post his bail, which comes in at $250,000. However, after his case received national attention, his family set up a YouCaring account to help him get out of jail.

"I appreciate everything," Hernandez told PIX11 News. "My mom always told me to believe and have faith, but I never believed that something like this would happen. I was just in shock."

While in jail for the last year, Hernandez has finished high school, with honors, and earned a full college scholarship from the Posse Foundation.

"I'm a strong person," Hernandez told PIX11 News by phone. "I have got a strong mind and I don't let nobody else decide on a decision of what's right for me.”

If his $250,000 bail gets met through crowdsourcing before August ends, Hernandez will be able to accept his scholarship.