Tommy Lee Walker exonerated by Dallas County 70 years after execution

Almost seventy years after the state of Texas put him to demise, Dallas County officers have formally exonerated Tommy Lee Walker, a 21-year-old black man who was executed two years after he was wrongly convicted of the rape and homicide of a white girl.

Dallas County District Lawyer John Creuzot requested commissioners Wednesday to signal a decision recognizing Walker’s innocence after discovering that he was coerced into confessing and convicted by an all-white jury.

The case, the oldest assigned to the Dallas County DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit, concerned Walker, a 19-year-old accused of raping and killing Venice Parker, a 31-year-old white girl, on her approach house from work in 1953.

In line with the Demise Penalty Info Heart, on the night time of the homicide, Walker was visiting his girlfriend Mary Louise Smith, who was 9 months pregnant.DPI).

Tommy Lee Walker throughout a trial through which he was convicted of murdering a girl in 1954. (Dallas Public Library)

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Though witnesses confirmed he was with Smith, he was prosecuted for the homicide, which occurred three miles away on the town, FOX 4 Dallas. reported.

Walker’s son was born the day after the homicide on October 1.

A number of witnesses acknowledged that Parker was unable to talk after the assault because of a reduce on her neck. Nonetheless, one police officer claimed she described her attacker as a black man, the DPI stated.

Tommy Lee Walker was acquitted after his execution after being convicted of murdering a girl in 1954. (Dallas Public Library)

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Throughout a evaluate of the case, the district legal professional’s workplace discovered that lots of of black males had been questioned concerning the homicide based mostly solely on their race.

Walker was reportedly interrogated for hours with out an legal professional, and authorities advised him he would face the demise penalty until he confessed, the DPI stated.

Walker signed a confession, however recanted nearly instantly. There was no different proof in opposition to him.

Officers additionally stated the state allowed deceptive proof at trial, and that the prosecutor himself acted as a witness and advised the jury that Walker was responsible, based on FOX 4.

“I really feel like I have been tricked out of my life,” Walker stated throughout his sentencing listening to.

Walker was executed by electrical chair on Might 12, 1956 on the age of 21.

Tommy Lee Walker takes the stand throughout his homicide trial. (Dallas Public Library)

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“Respecting the constitutional rights afforded to all residents and taking into consideration newly accessible scientific proof, the Dallas County District Lawyer’s Workplace couldn’t and wouldn’t prosecute Tommy Lee Walker for the rape and homicide of Lorraine Parker in Venice,” Creuzot wrote in a press release.

Creuzot stated his workplace, with assist from the Innocence Venture, delved into the case after Walker’s son, his solely residing descendant, introduced the case to their consideration.

Walker’s son, Ted Smith, 72, offered testimony at his father’s posthumous exoneration, noting that his mom by no means recovered after the execution.

“He advised my mom and she or he advised me. He stated, ‘Give me the chair that belongs to another person. I am harmless.’ That is the very last thing my mother advised me,” Ted Smith advised FOX 4. “This waiver means the world to me.”

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The decision acknowledged that the county “considers it an ethical obligation to acknowledge the injustice surrounding the conviction of Tommy Lee Walker, to confront historical past and to affirm Dallas County’s dedication to justice for all individuals, residing and deceased.” [J]ustice has no statute of limitations.”

Parker’s son, Joseph Parker, 77, additionally attended the listening to, hugged Smith and apologized for the lack of his father.