Howard Hairston
Howard Hairston was one of seven Black men from Martinsville executed in the electric chair in Richmond in February 1951, a group known as the Martinsville Seven. Family members and advocates say the men were questioned without a lawyer and their confessions were coerced under threat of mob violence, and an independent investigation reported that confessions had been extorted after violent mistreatment by local officials. The NAACP argued that the trials were unfair and the death sentences racially unequal, but the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeals. In 2021 Governor Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons, citing due process failures and a racially biased death sentence without addressing guilt. In December 2020, relatives of the men and a former Richmond mayor asked the governor for a pardon and an apology.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Family members and advocates say the men were interrogated without a lawyer, their confessions were coerced under threat of mob violence, and their trials were unfair; the NAACP argued the trials were unfair and the death sentences racially unequal.
Reported by: family and advocates; NAACP (advocates); Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court (court).