Tommie Walker
Tommy Lee Walker, a 21-year-old Black man, was executed in the electric chair at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, on May 12, 1956, a death the Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists as an execution by the state. His son, Ted Smith, said his father told the family he was innocent until the end, and that his mother never recovered after the execution. In 2026, Dallas County officials formally exonerated Walker posthumously, finding that a confession obtained from him was coerced and that his trial was unfair. At the exoneration hearing, Smith testified, and the son of the victim attended, hugged Smith and apologized for the loss of his father.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Dallas County officials exonerated him in 2026, finding a confession was coerced and the trial unfair, and his son says he maintained his innocence until the end.
Reported by: Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the agency that held him). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.