Lena Baker
Lena Baker, a Black woman from Cuthbert, Georgia, was 44 when the state executed her in the electric chair at Georgia State Prison in Reidsville on March 5, 1945, according to state corrections records. Her name is still spoken in Cuthbert, and when her body was brought home, elementary school students cut their hair to make a wig for her. She testified that she was not allowed to go home to her children while she was kept at the mill for days at a time. Baker maintained that the death at the mill was an act of self-defense, and her case was reexamined for decades until the state pardoned her in 2005, about 60 years after her execution, a pardon some say came too late.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Lena Baker maintained that the death of the white mill owner was an act of self-defense, and Georgia pardoned her posthumously in 2005 after decades of reexamination.
Reported by: Georgia Department of Corrections (the agency that held her). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held her.