The woman, who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of raping her two decades ago, walked free Friday from a North Carolina prison after serving time for the slaying of her boyfriend.
Crystal Mangum, a 47-year-old former exotic dancer, wore a gray sweatshirt and khaki pants as she left the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh at about 9:49 a.m. EST.
She was led into a white North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) car when a parole officer then drove her to Durham, where Mangum will be living with a friend. agency spokesperson Brad Deen said.
She’d been serving time on second-degree murder conviction for the 2013 slaying of boyfriend Reginald Daye.
Mangum was thrust into the national spotlight when she and another dancer performed at party, thrown by Duke lacrosse players on March 13, 2006 and then accused three of the athletes of assaulting her.
The allegations against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann touched off a national conversation on hot-button topics such as sex work, race, gender and class.
She later admitted to making false allegations but those lies had done their damage.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was found to have withheld evidence from defense lawyers that could have cleared the men much earlier. The prosecutor was disbarred in 2007.
Mangum was convicted in 2013 for second-degree murder for stabbing of her boyfriend Daye to death on April 3, 2011. She was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
