A man who was executed after being found guilty in a rape and murder case in 1953 near Dallas Love Field airport has been exonerated. On Wednesday, 70 years later, Tommy Lee Walker was declared innocent by the Commissioners Court of Dallas.
In 1953, 19-year-old Black male Tommy Lee Walker was arrested and charged with the murder of Venice Parker. The White store clerk had been sexually assaulted as well as stabbed when waiting for the bus after she had finished her shift at a nearby toy store.
She was brought to the hospital by a passing driver, where she was pronounced dead. Two witnesses told police they had seen Tommy Lee Walker leave the area that same night.
However, neither had witnessed the crime, according to a copy of the appellate court’s 1956 decision denying Walker’s appeal obtained by People Magazine.
Venice Parker was unable to speak due to cuts in her throat, per the Innocence Project. However, the officer who had interviewed her moments before her death claimed she identified the attacker as a Black man.
Black teenager convicted and executed for a white woman’s murder exonerated 70 years later
Four months after the murder, Tommy Lee Walker was arrested by the Dallas Police Homicide Bureau Chief Will Fritz. He was alleged to have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, the Innocence Project wrote.
Walker had an alibi, as he was attending the birth of his first and only child. He had more than 10 eyewitnesses who confirmed it, and he also testified to it at trial. He declared his innocence, but after hours of questioning, tearing him down, he confessed. The questioning included threats of the electric chair, and no class of evidence existed. He was made to sign a confession.
At trial, no forensic or circumstantial evidence was presented, and prosecutors relied on an alleged confession that Walker made. He later recanted his confession, but was still sentenced.
“I feel that I have been tricked out of my life,” Tommy Lee Walker said, according to the Innocence Project.
Tommy Lee Walker was executed in the electric chair on May 12, 1956, at just 21 years old. He used his last words to proclaim his innocence.
“Justice does not expire with time”
Now, 70 years later, the Commissioners Court of Dallas has adopted a resolution that exonerates Walker. It states he was wrongfully convicted and executed.
They affirmed Tommy’s “innocence,” and acknowledged “the harm caused to him, his family, and the community by this wrongful conviction.
The declaration was adopted on Wednesday, January 21. It was attended by Tommy Lee Walker’s son, Edward Smith, as well as Venice Parker’s son, Joseph Parker. It was the first time they met. The moment was captured by Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot, who released photos of the encounter.
“In a moment that transcended generations of pain, Tommy Lee Walker’s son and Venice Parker’s son were both present and met for the first time. Parker’s son affirmed what the evidence makes clear: Tommy Lee Walker was innocent,” Creuzot’s office said in a statement.
Creuzot said that, no matter how long ago the injustice occurred, it’s important to address it.
“Justice does not expire with time,” he said, per ABC.
We’re thankful that justice was served. Please share your thoughts after reading this in the comment box.
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