On this day in 1944, the discovery of two white girls’ corpses in a ditch in South Carolina led to the tragic execution of the United States’ youngest victim, George Stinney, Jr.
Authorities had wrongfully accused the 14-year-old Black child of murdering Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7.
On 23 March 1944, the girls, who had been riding bicycles in search of passion flower berries, stopped to ask Stinney and his younger sister if they knew where to find ‘maypops.’ That was the last time the girls were seen alive, as their bodies were found the next day.
Following an interrogation without Stinney’s parents present, plus a rushed investigation and a coerced confession, an all-white jury convicted Stinney in just 10 minutes after a two-hour trial on 24 April 1944, in which he had no proper legal defence. Despite widespread pleas for mercy, he was sentenced to death by electrocution. On 16 June 1944, the state of South Carolina executed Stinney in an adult-sized electric chair, which was too large for his 95-pound frame, making his death particularly horrific.
His siblings and a former cellmate maintained his innocence for decades. But it was not until 70 years later, in 2014, that new evidence revealed authorities had coerced Stinney’s confession, and that he had an alibi placing him elsewhere during the crime. Judge Carmen Mullen ultimately overturned his conviction, calling it a ‘great and fundamental injustice.’
While some might call the 2014 ruling a victory, wrongful arrests continue to mark Black people’s existence as an internal colony in the US, violating our people’s human rights. From George Stinney (1929-44) to Breonna Taylor (1993-2020), George Floyd (1973-2020) and countless others, state violence against Black people in the US isn’t an anomaly but a pillar of its imperialist system.
Sources
https://allthatsinteresting.com/george-stinney-jr
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30529890
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1382796/stinney-ruling.pdf