The son of Tommy Lee Walker, Edward (Ted) Smith, was visibly emotional when the court revealed that his father had been posthumously exonerated, decades after his passing.
On January 21, the Dallas County Commissioners Court officially declared Walker innocent of the charges of rape and murder.
Walker, at the age of 19, was apprehended for the rape and murder of 31-year-old Venice Parker. The events took place on the evening of September 30, 1953. That night, Walker, who did not own a vehicle, hitched a ride home after work.
After spending time with friends at Exall Park, he went to visit his girlfriend, Mary Louise Smith, who was nine months pregnant. Their son, Ted, was born the next day, but Walker was unjustly taken into custody, which prevented him from being part of his son’s life.
Several months after Ted’s birth and Parker’s murder, an ‘unsubstantiated tip’ led police to identify Walker as a suspect.
During the trial, Walker insisted he was with his girlfriend during the birth of their son. Despite the support of 10 witnesses, as noted by the Innocence Project, the all-white jury convicted him of Parker’s murder.
Walker was sentenced to death and executed in 1956 via the electric chair. His last words were a declaration of his innocence.
Now, after 70 years, Walker’s innocence in the crimes he was convicted of has been officially recognized.
This decision follows a comprehensive reinvestigation over several years conducted by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, the Innocence Project, and the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) at Northeastern University School of Law.
The investigation revealed that Walker’s conviction was deeply flawed due to ‘false or unreliable evidence, coercive interrogation tactics, and racial bias’, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Center.
After the ruling, Chris Fabricant, one of Ted’s attorneys from the Innocence Project, stated: “The court’s declaration today provides some semblance of belated justice to Mr. Walker’s legacy, and to his son, our client Edward Smith.
“Mr. Smith has carried the generational trauma of the irreparable injustice his father faced at the hands of the State. Acknowledging what we know to be truth — that false evidence, misconduct, and overt racism led to the execution of an innocent man — albeit 70 years later, is essential to the integrity of our legal system, the historical fabric of this country, and most importantly it is an acknowledgment of the unspeakable burden Mr. Smith and his family have carried for decades.
“We are thankful to District Attorney Creuzot and the Dallas County Commissioners for their willingness to formally recognize this gross and unforgivable miscarriage of justice.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Racial Equity Support Line on 503-575-3764, available weekdays from 10am to 7pm PT. Or via the Lines for Life Equity Team at [email protected].