Nearly 70 years after a Texas Black man was executed for the rape and murder of a white woman, officials have declared him innocent, citing false evidence and pervasive racial bias. Tommy Lee Walker was put to death in the electric chair in May 1956 for the killing of 31-year-old Venice Parker in Dallas.
An extensive review by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, the Innocence Project, and Northeastern University School of Law found multiple problems with Walker's conviction. A police officer claimed Parker had identified her attacker as a Black man, but witnesses said she was unable to speak after the attack. Walker, then 19, was arrested after hundreds of Black men were rounded up during a period of racial panic.
Walker confessed under duress, testifying he feared for his life after being interrogated by Dallas police captain Will Fritz, a known Ku Klux Klan member. At trial, ten witnesses placed Walker at a hospital with his girlfriend during the murder, but this was disregarded in Jim Crow-era Dallas.
Walker's son, Edward Lee Smith, now 72, told commissioners he still misses his father. The victim's son, Joseph Parker, hugged Smith during the emotional hearing and expressed hope that the exoneration would help prevent future wrongful convictions.
Dallas County commissioners unanimously passed a symbolic resolution declaring Walker wrongfully convicted and executed, calling it a profound miscarriage of justice. The review was prompted by journalist Mary Mapes, who began investigating the case 13 years ago.
