Korey Wise

Korey Wise (born Kharey Wise, July 26, 1972)^[1][2] is an American activist who travels the United States advocating for criminal justice reform. Wise shares his stories of being wrongfully convicted in the Central Park jogger case (along with Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Yusef Salaam) for the attack on Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old white woman who was jogging in Central Park, as well as attacks on eight other people on the night of April 19, 1989.^[3] Wise spent approximately 14 years incarcerated, maintaining his innocence from 1989 until he was exonerated in 2002.

At 16 years old, Wise was the oldest of the so-called "Central Park Five", and was the only one of the five to serve all his time in the adult prison system. He was not a suspect in any of the crimes initially, and freely accompanied his friend to the police station. Once there, however, detectives decided to interrogate him about the rape of Meili, despite his name not originally being on the list of suspects.^[4][5]

In 2015, Wise donated $190,000 to the University of Colorado Law School Innocence Project, which was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project.^[6]

In 2019, the story was dramatized and released as a four-episode miniseries on Netflix entitled When They See Us. Actor Jharrel Jerome won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his portrayal of Wise.^[7]

In July 2019, Wise purchased a condominium overlooking Central Park. He was the only one of the five who chose to continue to reside in New York City after his release until Yusef Salaam returned to Harlem to run for a New York City Council seat in 2023.^[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wise helped provide sustenance to senior residents in Harlem.^[9]

References

1. "Korey Wise's Sister, Marci Wise, Was Murdered While He Was in Jail". Heavy.com. June 7, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2021. Wise, who changed his first named from Kharey to Korey...
2. Chandra Thomas Whitfield (August 8, 2019). "We talked with one of the Central Park Five about Netflix's "When They See Us"". In These Times. Retrieved July 10, 2021. One of the most magical components of our story is this young man changed his name from Kharey to Korey...
3. Kassin, Saul (November 1, 2002). "False Confessions and the Jogger Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
4. Rajani, Deepika (July 6, 2019). "Korey Wise now: what happened to 'Central Park Five' member portrayed in When They See Us". inews.co.uk. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
5. Finn, Heather (June 5, 2019). "Why Korey Wise's Story in 'When They See Us' Is Hitting Viewers Especially Hard". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
6. McGhee, Tom (July 4, 2019). "Korey Wise's donation gave CU's Innocence Project real power. A Netflix series on the Central Park 5 is making it even stronger". Colorado Sun. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
7. "Nominations Search | Television Academy". emmys.com. September 22, 2019. from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
8. Meara, Paul (July 7, 2019). "The Exonerated Five's Korey Wise Buys Million Dollar Apartment Overlooking Central Park". Black Entertainment Television. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
9. "Everyday heroes help Harlem seniors in need". April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.

External links

• Korey Wise Innocence Project