Howard Lee Hairston
Howard Lee Hairston was a Black man from Martinsville, Virginia, and he was one of seven Black men from that city executed in the electric chair in Richmond in February 1951. Family members and advocates say the men were interrogated without a lawyer, that their confessions were coerced under threat of mob violence, and that their trials were unfair. In 2021, Governor Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons, recognizing due process failures and a racially biased death sentence, though the pardons did not address guilt. Family objections to the case have been the main account of him beyond the facts of his death.
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; Governor Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons in 2021 recognizing due process failures.
Reported by: family or their lawyers.