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ExecutedUnder 18

Alexander McClay Williams

16 years old · died June 8, 1931 · George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Alexander McClay Williams was a 16-year-old Black boy from a family of 13 children, and his sister Susie Carter is the last surviving sibling. Pennsylvania executed him in the electric chair at Rockview Prison on June 8, 1931, and he remains the youngest person the state has put to death. His family said for decades that he was innocent, and advocates and his lawyers have argued that his confession was coerced and that prosecutors withheld evidence. In June 2022 a Delaware County judge overturned the case, and Gov. Tom Wolf later exonerated him after prosecutors said they no longer believed he committed the killing. In 2024 his family filed a federal lawsuit against Delaware County and the estates of two detectives and a prosecutor, alleging a coerced false confession and hidden evidence.

Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Family, lawyers and a lawsuit say his confessions were coerced, the evidence pointed elsewhere, and he was innocent, and a 2022 county court vacated the case.

Reported by: death certificate, as cited by Sam Lemon; his family's lawsuit (family or their lawyers); Delaware County judge (court).

Lawsuit: His sister, Susie Carter, sued Delaware County and the estates of two detectives and a prosecutor in federal court in May 2024, alleging a coerced confession and hidden evidence.

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