The Dallas County Commissioner's Court declared Tommy Lee Walker innocent on 21/1, 70 years after his wrongful execution for murder. This decision rectifies a historical injustice, affirming Walker was wrongfully convicted and executed in 1956 at the age of 19.

Walker had maintained his innocence from the start, presenting an alibi that he was at the hospital welcoming his first child when Venice Parker, a white sales clerk, was sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed in 1953. Despite 10 witnesses testifying to his alibi, Walker was convicted and sentenced to death.

Parker died in the hospital from severe injuries. Though a police officer claimed she identified a Black man before her death, research by the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization assisting wrongfully convicted individuals in the US, indicates her throat was cut, making speech impossible.

Walker was arrested four months after the murder by Will Fritz, head of the Dallas Police Department's homicide investigation unit. The Innocence Project notes that Mr. Fritz was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization.

Tommy Lee Walker arrested in 1953. Photo: Dallas Public Library

Walker signed two confessions after hours of intense interrogation, threats of the electric chair, and deceptive claims of non-existent evidence. He was exhausted. The Innocence Project highlighted inaccuracies in the first statement and Walker's immediate retraction of the second. Crucially, even under duress, Walker never confessed to rape.

The case was prosecuted by Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, whom the Innocence Project alleges oversaw the conviction of 20 innocent Black men during his tenure. During the trial, Mr. Wade refused to provide exculpatory evidence to the defense, made false and unsubstantiated statements, and even testified himself to assert Walker's guilt.

Despite Mr. Fritz's assurance that a confession would spare Walker the death penalty, Walker was executed by electric chair in 1956. His appeal was denied.

Tommy Lee Walker (seated) during his trial. Photo: Dallas Public Library

The Innocence Project's advocacy led to a comprehensive review of Walker's case by the Conviction Integrity Unit within the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.

For Edward Smith, Walker's only child, 21/1 was a bittersweet day. Smith never met his father. "Growing up without a father was hard. When I was in school, my classmates talked about their fathers, and I had nothing to say", Edward shared. "This decision won't bring him back, but now the world knows he was innocent, and we find some peace."

Tue Anh (according to People)