- George Stinney
George Junius Stinney Jr. (
October 21 ,1929 –June 16 ,1944 ) was, at age 14, the youngest person executed in theUnited States in the 20th century.The case
Stinney, who was black, was arrested for murdering two white girls, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and Mary Emma Thames, age 8, in
Clarendon County, South Carolina , onMarch 23 ,1944 . The next day, he was charged withfirst-degree murder . The trial took place on April 24 at the Clarendon County Courthouse. Afterjury selection , the trial started at 12:30 p.m. and ended at 5:30 p.m. After only 10 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Under South Carolina law at the time, everyone over the age of 14 was regarded as an adult. Stinney was sentenced to death in theelectric chair . Hundreds of people, including organizations such as theN.A.A.C.P. , churches, and unions pleaded with governorOlin D. Johnston to stop the execution. He refused, saying he had studied the case and found no reason to intervene.. [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/child/1.html Child Killing ] ]Execution
The execution was carried out at the
South Carolina State Penitentiary inColumbia, South Carolina on the morning ofJune 16 ,1944 , less than three months after the crime. At 7:30 a.m. Stinney walked to the execution chamber, aBible under his arm. There were difficulties strapping the boy, who at 5'1" and just over 90 lbs was comparably small for his age, to the electric chair. In addition, the face mask used in executions did not fit properly. As a result, according to witnesses, it slid off his face during the execution, exposing his face to the witnesses. Stinney was pronounced dead less than four minutes after the execution began.. [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/child/5.html Child Killing ] ]Controversy
To this day, the Stinney case has been regarded as controversial. In this context, the case gave rise to the novel "Carolina Skeletons" by David Stout. The novel was adapted into the film of the same name (also known as "The End of Silence") directed by John Erman, featuring
Kenny Blank as Linus Bragg, who is meant to represent Stinney.References
External links
*http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/child/1.html
* [http://www.geocities.com/alabamajuveniles/stinney.html Juveniles on Alabama's Death Row ] at www.geocities.com
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
