Korey Wise, a political activist born in Harlem, has a story that no one could forget. Korey Wise, son of Deloris Wise, born and raised for 16 years in Harlem, New York, is sadly known as one of the Central Park Five His years as a free man ended too soon and for too long on April 20th, 1989 when Wise and 4 other innocent children, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Yusef Salaam, faced false and premeditated charges that would ruin their childhood, life, and the spirits of all families involved.
On April 20th, at 1.30 a.m. two men found Trisha Meili unconscious in the woods of Central Park on 102nd Street. Cops were previously called for the report of what the kids described as ¨wilding¨. At around 9:00 p.m. up to 30 kids gathered at the park breaking out in fights, assaulting bike riders, and harassing ongoing people in the park. This was known as the word ¨wilding¨, a group of younger kids in a public area harassing and mugging people as they passed. the police were alerted of the commotion and were at the scene grouping as many kids together to bring them to the station This included innocent children who were simply in the park to hang out.
Many kids were questioned and gave names of the people they were with, leading to more kids being brought to the station, innocent or not. Detectives and attorneys Linda Fairstein, Elizabeth Lederer, Michael Sheehan, Bobby Powers, and Eric Reynolds were all involved in the false charges given to these teens no older than 16. Coercing and lying by telling the kids confessing to the crime would help their chances of going home.
Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam were walking the streets the next day when a cop stopped Yusuf saying he fit the description he was given, Wise name was not given, and only ended up at the station being a good friend knowing Yusef’s mom would want him to go with her son.
While the other kids were being investigated it was clear the story wasn’t fitting to the crime, because they were forcing a timeline with people who were innocent and far from the scene. Additionally to the coursing and bribing of the kids with the idea of giving a story to go home, they knew they needed glue to the story to actually have a case, Korey Wise was that glue.
Wise, who suffered from a hearing and learning disability, and the other kids, who were 14 to 16 years old, were not only questioned without a parent present for 14 to 30 hours but were beaten and abused mentally. They were told they could go home if they confessed. It wasn’t until the kid’s parents came when they realized what they had done, lied on kids they didn’t even know, and lied on themselves. Thinking this would higher their chances of going home, they soon realized that was never the plan the cops had in mind.
On April 27th, 1989 the 5 kids were taken to jail with on a rape charge. The 4 younger boys were taken to a juvenile center, but Wise was sent to Rikers Island at the time known as one of the worst correctional facilities, where he suffered physically and mentally. Wise spent 13 and 4 months of his innocent life getting severely beaten by fellow prisoners and guards, so badly he ended up in solitary confinement not for behavior but for protection.
While in jail, Wise earned his college degree and focused on himself while fighting off prisoners mad at what they thought he did. In early 2002, Matias Reyes met Wise himself and even started a confrontation with Wise. After his interaction with Reyes the guilt of 5 innocent kids suffering jail time caused him to finally admit to the rape of Trisha Meili.
While the 4 other men were out watching the truth unfold, Wise was still in jail. At the age of 30 Wise was finally released. Wise, one of many victims of being an innocent man in jail, Wise created the Innocent Project assisting people with free investigation and legal help for innocent people serving time in Colorado.
In 2002, Wise walked out of jail and later received a settlement of 12.25 million. Now at 51 Wise often visits schools as a guest for black history month giving the heart-wrenching story he lived through for 13 years. As Wise traveled around the U.S. advocating for criminal justice imperfections he advocated for people to know his and many people’s story and an innocent man facing a free person’s crime. The Netflix original The Central Park 5 allows the truth and the kid’s story to be highlighted.
