Black teenager convicted and executed for white woman’s murder is exonerated decades later

Seven decades after he was sent to the electric chair for a crime he did not commit, Tommy Lee Walker has finally been cleared of all charges. In a historic and somber proceeding on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, the Dallas County Commissioners Court issued a formal resolution declaring Walker innocent, acknowledging a catastrophic failure of the American legal system that ended the life of a 21-year-old man. The case dates back to 1953, near the vicinity of Dallas Love Field airport. Venice Parker, a White store clerk, was waiting for a bus following her shift at a local toy store when she was brutally sexually assaulted and stabbed. While a passing motorist rushed her to a hospital, Parker succumbed to her injuries. Before her death, an officer claimed she identified her assailant as a Black man, though her throat injuries had rendered her unable to speak.

A Conviction Built on Shadows

Tommy Lee Walker, then just 19 years old, was swept up in the investigation after two witnesses claimed they saw him in the general area that night. However, according to appellate documents from 1956, neither individual actually witnessed the struggle or the stabbing.

Despite the lack of physical evidence, Walker was arrested by Dallas Police Homicide Bureau Chief Will Fritz—a man later described by the Innocence Project as having alleged ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

Walker maintained a powerful alibi: at the time of the murder, he was attending the birth of his first and only child. More than ten eyewitnesses testified to his whereabouts, yet their accounts were ignored. After hours of grueling interrogation and the looming threat of the electric chair, Walker was coerced into signing a confession. He would later recant, telling the court he had been “tricked” out of his life.

The Finality of 1956

With no forensic or circumstantial evidence to present, prosecutors relied entirely on that coerced confession. On May 12, 1956, at the age of 21, Tommy Lee Walker was executed. He used his final moments on earth to proclaim his innocence, a plea that went unheard for seventy years.

The resolution adopted this week by the Commissioners Court formally admits that Walker was wrongfully convicted and executed, acknowledging the profound “harm caused to him, his family, and the community.”

A Meeting of Sons

The exoneration was marked by a moment of extraordinary emotional gravity. Edward Smith, Walker’s son who was born the night of the murder, met Joseph Parker, the son of the victim, Venice Parker. This first-time encounter was facilitated by Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot.

In a statement that transcended decades of grief, Joseph Parker stood alongside Smith and affirmed the evidence: the man executed for his mother’s death was innocent.

“In a moment that transcended generations of pain, Tommy Lee Walker’s son and Venice Parker’s son were both present and met for the first time,” Creuzot’s office stated.

“Justice Does Not Expire”

For District Attorney Creuzot, the age of the case did not diminish the necessity of the exoneration. He emphasized that the truth must be pursued regardless of how much time has passed.

“Justice does not expire with time,” Creuzot told ABC News.

While the resolution cannot restore a life lost to the electric chair, it stands as a permanent correction of the record—a final, official admission that Tommy Lee Walker was a victim of the very system sworn to protect the innocent.