The judiciary is the hope of the common man in America as it can ensure that justice is duly served. However, when the judiciary fails to do its duty, innocent men like Alexander McClay Williams lose their lives to legal lynching for crimes they didn’t commit.
The story of McClay Williams is one that we’ve seen play out severally in different ways. From law enforcement officials profiling innocent men to the jury convicting them for unknown crimes, the American justice system has failed the common man repeatedly.
Alexander McClay Williams’ story dates back to 1931 when authorities charged him with murder. Officials arrested him for the murder of 34-year-old Vida Robare, a white woman. According to police records, Robare’s ex-husband reported the incident to the police. The 34-year-old was reportedly stabbed 47 times by her assailant.
The unidentified ex-husband also found a photograph of an adult’s bloody handprint at the scene. The case saw Delaware County sentence McClay Williams, a 16-year-old Black boy, to the electric chair in 1931. Susie Williams Carter, McClay Williams’ sister, noted that the case garnered national attention and devastated the family.
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As a result, the family left their boarding house business in Coatesville, abandoning the town. However, in October 2022, over ninety years later, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf exonerated McClay Williams. Wolf apologized, calling his sentencing an “egregious miscarriage of justice.”
Hence, Carter, the last surviving sibling of McClay Williams’ thirteen siblings, is suing the county that prosecuted him. According to police records, McClay Williams, the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania, was first arrested in October 1930.
“They murdered him,” 94-year-old Carter said. “They need to pay for killing my brother.” Notably, author Samuel Lemon exposed some grim details of the case, noting that the authorities conducted the trial shabbily. Lemon revealed that they listed Williams’ age incorrectly as 18 instead of 16.
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Furthermore, Lemon revealed that prosecutors failed to disclose Robare’s ex-husband’s history of abuse during the trial. “This tragedy haunted the family,” said Joseph Marrone, who filed the suit against Delaware County and the two detectives and prosecutor who pursued the case.
Marrone added that there was nothing in the case that connected McClay Williams to the murder. “He was a convenient Black boy at the hands of these detectives and his prosecutor,” he noted. Similarly, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer condemned the execution.
He said the detectives and prosecutors violated McClay Williams’ constitutional rights. While speaking about his research into the case, Lemon noted that it was evident to him that McClay Williams was innocent. “This was kind of a legal lynching,” he said.
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Carter thanked Lemon for his work; the truth about McClay Williams’ case would not have been revealed without his help. McClay Williams’ niece, Osceola Perdue, said the sad story of his execution still resonates with her. “It cuts deep because, if you think about it, it’s still going on to this day,” she said.
Furthermore, Perdue noted that the same execution pattern is still occurring today. Since Alexander McClay Williams’ case became public, other exonerees have expressed outrage over how law enforcement officials treat innocent people.
They also highlighted the failed justice system, which they say hasn’t changed since 1931. How many more Alexander McClay Williams before we finally get it right?
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