CSI in the News October 2011 - CSI Today

Staten Island resident part of creative team behind newdocumentary about 'The Tombs'Wednesday, October 05, 2011, 9:39 AMDiane LoreBySTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - PORT RICHMOND -Vernon (Dyverse) Wooton knows athing or two about mean streets.The one-time rapper-musician, who nowmakes his home in Port Richmond, isoriginally from the Bronx, and spent histeen years in a group home at MountLoretto.Nowadays, the 37-year-old Wooton servesas a youth mentor and board member ofYoung Talented and Gifted (YTG), theGraniteville-based non-profit that aims toempower youth and encourage theirtalents through the arts and education.When Wooton was approached to be partof the creative team behind anindependent film about the infamousVernon (Dyverse) Wooten, at right, of Port Richmond, with Curtis HighSchool student Isaiah Harrison, of Mariners Harbor, at the premiere ofManhattan House of Detention – a.k.a.'The Tombs,' an independent film for which Wooten served as associateexecutive producer. (Photo courtesy Vernon Wooton)"The Tombs" – he saw an opportunity toinfluence and inform young people aboutthe prison system and the effect it has on young black and Latino men.Wooton signed on as associate executive producer, joining director Jerry Lamothe (who also directed thefilms "Blackout" and "Amour Infinity") and executive producer Tami Roman (from VH1's "BasketballWives")."I'm proud of this project because it allows me to educate, entertain and inform young people about thePage 105 of 154