Dallas man executed for 1954 murder declared innocent

DALLAS - Dallas County Commissioners symbolically declared a man innocent in a 1954 murder case.

The district attorney said Tommy Lee Walker was coerced into a confession during a time of racial segregation and was convicted by an all-white jury.

Tommy Lee Walker’s Innocence

What we know:

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot asked commissioners on Wednesday to pass a resolution acknowledging Walker's innocence.

Creuzot said his office conducted extensive research on the case with help from the Innocence Project after being contacted by Walker’s son, who is his only living descendant.

"In observance of the constitutional rights afforded to all citizens and in consideration of newly available scientific evidence, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office could not and would not have prosecuted Tommy Lee Walker for the rape and murder of Venice Lorraine Parker," the DA said in a statement.

The backstory:

Walker was a 19-year-old father who was convicted and put to death by the electric chair for a crime the DA’s office now believes he did not commit.

Venice Parker, a 31-year-old white woman, was brutally attacked on her way home from work in 1953 and ultimately died.

Multiple witnesses testified that she could not speak because of her injuries. However, a single white police officer claimed he heard her describe her attacker as a Black man.

Creuzot said his review of the case found that hundreds of Black men were rounded up for questioning about the murder based simply on the color of their skin.

The state allowed misleading evidence through the improper questioning of Walker. The DA at the time also took the witness stand and gave his personal belief of Walker’s guilt before continuing his role as the lead prosecutor for the case, according to Creuzot.

Featured

article

Benjamin Spencer declared innocent of murder 37 years after he was wrongfully convicted

Benjamin Spencer was convicted at age 22 for the robbery and murder of Dallas businessman Jeffrey Young on the word of three witnesses and a jailhouse informant. Over time, those witnesses recanted their testimony. On Thursday, Spencer was declared innocent.

What they're saying:

Commissioner’s Court was emotional as the county cleared Walker’s name.

FOX 4 also spoke to Walker’s son after his father was cleared.

"He told my mother and she told me. He said, ‘You give me the chair that belongs to someone else. I am innocent.’ That is the last thing my mother told me," said Ted Smith, Walker’s son. "This exoneration means the world to me."

The victim’s son was also at the hearing and embraced Walker’s son, apologizing for his family enduring the wrongful conviction.

Dig deeper:

Walker’s case is the oldest case investigated by the Dallas County DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit.