In Clarendon County, South Carolina, a new trial is in place for 14-year old George Stinney Jr. , who was black and the youngest person ever to be executed almost 70 years ago. Stinney Jr. was accused of murdering 7-year old Mary Emma Thames and 11-year old Betty June Binnicker. On March 23, 1944 in Alcolu, South Carolina, Thames and Binnicker were riding their bikes looking for “maypops” flowers when they asked Stinney Jr. and his sister, Katherine where they could find them. Later that day, the girls were found murdered with severe head injuries.
Stinney Jr., who weighed 90 pounds and stood 5’1’’, was arrested a few hours later and interrogated by white officers. Reports state authorities offered Stinney Jr. Ice cream in exchange for a confession, declaring Stinney Jr. told police he wanted to have sex with the girls and he can take them to the murder weapon. The Miranda Rights did not exist in 1944. Stinney Jr.’s father was fired from his employment at a local lumber mill and the family moved away that night in fear of their lives.
Stinney Jr. was taken to the South Carolina Penitentiary in Columbia, South Carolina with much older inmates. A former inmate, Wilford Hunter, recalled Stinney Jr. denying the charges. During the trial on April 24th, 30 year old Charles Plowden, Stinney Jr.’s attorney, never appealed the case because the Stinney family had no money to pay for a continuation, but some believe it was for political gain. On June 16, 1944, Stinney Jr. was sent to the electric chair with a Bible under his arm. Because he was so small, Stinney Jr.’s arms were impossible to secure, books had to be placed on the electric chair so he could fit, and his face was too little for the adult-sized mask.
The electricity sent him into a convulsion, which caused the face mask to slip free and revealing his face to nearly 40 witnesses. At 7:34pm, Stinney Jr. was pronounced dead, 81 days after the murders. According to witnesses and a forensic pathologist, the evidence in the case now allegedly prove that Stinney Jr. was innocent and points out numerous violations from the police. The retrial is still pending.
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The New News with Eugene Walker 