Who Is Korey Wise? His Wiki, Age, Family, Net Worth & Facts

Korey-Wise
Published Date: 14 Jul, 2020 Updated date: 14 Jul, 2020 By Phil Carrington

Korey Wise was one of the wrongly convicted kids from the Central Park Five Case in New York. The 47-years-of-age activist was among the five Afro-American teenagers who got the punishment for a rape they never committed.

Korey Wise is an American political activist and historical figure. He gained massive attention after his life story was adapted as part of the Netflix original series When They See Us.

Korey Wise Wiki-Bio & Family: Age, Mother, Brother, Height

The political activist, age 47, was born as Korey Wise on 26 July 1972 in New York, the United States. Korey is among the three children of his mother, Deloris Wise. His father passed away in 1996 after suffering from cancer. His brother, Norman Wise, was a transgender and was known as Marci Wise. She died while Korey was serving a sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. Moreover, Korey has another transgender sister named Vanity Wise.

About 5 feet and 7 inches (1.7 meters) tall in height, Korey attended a local high school in New York. He couldn’t get the opportunity to attend college for further studies due to conviction.

The Full Story of Central Park Jogger Case

Korey Wise alongside four other Afro-American teenagers was wrongly convicted for the rape and assault of a white female jogger named Trisha Meili. Known as the Central Park Jogger Case, this incident took place on 19 April 1989 in North Woods of Manhattan’s Central Park.

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Besides Korey, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Yusef Salaam, were among the false convictions for the attack on Trisha, the 28-year-old woman who was jogging in the park that night. Furthermore, they were accused of attacks on eight other people on the same night.

Korey was the oldest of the group at 16 and the only member of the group to serve all his time in the adult prison system. Initially, he was not a suspect in any of the and freely accompanied his friend to the police station. Once there, detectives decided to interrogate him as well and connected him to the rape of a woman jogging in the park that night, despite his name not originally being on the list of suspects.

Korey was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, and served 11.5 years by the time he was released, the longest of all five boys.

Where Is Korey Wise Now? His Net Worth

Back in 2002, after Korey and four other teenagers were released, they sued the city of New York for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress. The case was finally settled in 2014 for $41 million.

As of now, the award-winning activist is closely working with The Innocence Project. Through his work, Korey campaigns for the rights and retails of those wrongfully convicted, alongside reform of the criminal justice system.

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Speaking at Huffman High School in Birmingham

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His story was adapted as part of the Netflix original series When They See Us in 2019. The show went on to bag several awards. The activist and motivational speaker is estimated to have a net worth of $12 million.

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Does Korey Wise Have A Girlfriend?

When Korey was serving a sentence for a falsely accused crime, his sister Marci wasn’t the only loved one he lost. Korey had to wave goodbye to his childhood girlfriend, Lisa, who passes away long before Korey’s conviction was overturned.

The story was more heartbreaking as the two never had the chance to reconnect following his arrest.

Some Interesting Facts About Korey Wise

  • Korey donated $190,000 to the University of Colorado Law School Innocence Project, which was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project in 2015.
  • Back in July 2019, Korey purchased a condominium overlooking Central Park.
  • He helped provide sustenance to senior residents in Harlem during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Before his false conviction, Korey performed poorly in school because of a learning disability.
  • He is active on Instagram with over 592k followers.  
Category: Biography