Is Korey Wise married now?
Introduction
As a 16 year old kid, Korey Wise was the oldest member of the Central Park Five—and one of the most reviled people in America in 1989.
Donald Trump even paid $85,000 for full page ads calling for the return of the death penalty for “criminals of every age”—specifically triggered by Korey and his unfairly targeted cohorts.
All five boys were wrongly convicted of 28-year-old Trish Meili’s assault.
At sentencing, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana were sent to a youth correctional facility.
Being one year older than the other four, Korey was sent to adult prison, where he would serve more than a decade.
In 2001, a convicted murderer and serial rapist came forward to confess that he was responsible for the brutal assault on the Central Park Jogger.
DNA taken from the victim at the time backed up the confession—Matias Reyes was the real attacker.
After serving more than 10 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Korey Wise was finally free.
His story—and that of the other four wrongfully incarcerated boys—was retold in the 2019 hit Netflix miniseries When They See Us.
And audiences want to know all they can about Korey Wise.
What is he doing now?
Is he married?
How is he coping?
Here are 5 facts about the resilient Korey Wise.
#1. He didn’t let the system beat him down.
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Korey always maintained his innocence while he was incarcerated.
Sadly, he also had the most to lose when he was sent to NYC’s notorious Rikers Island at 16 years old.
From there, he was moved to one of New York’s maximum security prisons, and shuttled from one facility to the next—further and further from home.
Over the next 11.5 years of his wrongful incarceration, Korey was subjected to violence, abuse, and intimidation at the hands of hardened criminals.
He was isolated from his family.
With little connection to the world outside, and nothing but brutality inside, Korey’s existence was bleak.
And still—he maintained his innocence.
Since his exoneration and release, he hasn’t allowed the system that betrayed him to hold him back anymore.
He has created a home and community for himself.
He has built friendships and enjoyed experiences.
The activist received a Man of Vision award in 2021, and works extensively as an advocate for others facing prejudice and injustice in the American legal system.
#2. He is the bigger man.
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Korey Wise has arguably the most tragic story of any member of the (now) Exonerated Five.
And in a cruel twist of fate, he wasn’t even on the list of suspects the police were looking for.
Korey accompanied his friend Yusef Salaam to the police station on that fateful night, thinking that his friend’s mom wouldn’t want Yusef to be there alone.
It was this selfless move that would see him interrogated for hours on end—and eventually charged for a crime he did not commit.
When They See Us director Ava DuVernay calls Wise a “walking miracle.”
After what he’s been through, she is in awe of his brilliance, his peace, and his positivity.
“I’ve never met anyone like him,” said DuVernay in a Vanity Fair interview.
Wise, who was part of the five that successfully sued the Manhattan Police Department, holds no ill will towards Yusef—although his former friend has often blamed himself.
Of the police, the prison system, and the American legal system, Wise could only say:
“You can forgive, but you won’t forget. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away.”
#3. He still lives in New York City.
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In July of 2019, Korey bought a penthouse apartment in New York—and the Harlem hot spot has a view towards the park that started all his troubles 30 years earlier.
The 803-square-foot apartment set the hard-working activist back close to a million dollars, but Wise was savvy enough to get it for well under the asking price.
The man deserves to live well after what he’s been through.
To add insult to injury, it took 12 years for the state to pay out on the wrongful imprisonments of the Exonerated Five.
Korey is the only one of the Exonerated Five to still live in New York City.
READ MORE: What happened to Korey Wise while in prison?
#4. Who is Korey Wise’s wife?
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He’s still a relatively young man, and Korey Wise isn’t ready to settle down in 2023.
While he has built strong friendships since his 2002 release, and worked tirelessly for others, it doesn’t look like any of the ladies have caught his eye so far.
What we do know is that Korey had a girlfriend at the time of his 1989 arrest.
Lisa—who is portrayed by actress Storm Reed in When They See Us—dated Korey when the pair were teens.
Viewers were excited to hear if their hero had reunited with his old flame after his release and exoneration.
DuVernay, the show’s director, was the one to set the record straight with a heart-breaking update:
https://twitter.com/ava/status/1156030806348853248
So, is Korey Wise married? No—he is currently single and living in NYC—he is the only member of the Exonerated Five who does not have children.
READ MORE: Scott Shenker Net Worth
#5. He gives back.
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Korey received a share of the $41 million settlement paid out by the City of New York in 2014, and the $3.9 million paid to the five in 2016.
But he hasn’t spent that money living the high life.
In 2020 and 2021, Wise was behind a drive to provide food for housebound seniors in the Harlem borough.
He has worked closely with The Innocence Project over the years.
In fact, he generously gifted $190,000 to the project—based out of the University of Colorado Law School—in 2015.
The Innocence Project was later renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project in his honor.
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