George Stinney

George Stinney Jr. (1930 – June 16, 1944) was an African American youth who was convicted in 1944 for the murders of two young white girls - Betty June Binnicker (1933-1944) and Mary Emma Thames (1936-1944) in Alcolu, South Carolina. He was sentenced to death and executed by electrocution, making him the youngest person in United States history to be sentenced to death. His conviction was vacated in 2014 due to multiple violations of his constitutional rights.

George Stinney Jr. was born on Monday, October 21, 1929 in Pinewood, South Carolina to George Stinney Sr. (1902-1965) and Aime Brown Stinney (1907-1989). He had 2 brothers, John, 17, Charles, 12, and 3 sisters, Carolina Stinney (1924-1990), Katherine Stinney, 10, and Aime Stinney Ruffner, 7.

On March 22, 1944, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker had left her home to pick flowers with her 8-year-old friend, Mary Emma Thames. When they rode their bicycles past Stinney's home, they stopped and asked George and his sister Aime where to find a type of flower. After this encounter, they went missing. The next morning, searchers discovered their bodies in a ditch with muddy water. Binnicker and Thames had been killed by extreme trauma to the head. Stinney was arrested on suspicion of killing Binnicker and Thames and after an hour of interrogation, he had confessed to killing both girls.

The trial of George Stinney began on April 24, 1944. His family were not allowed to see him due to risk of lynching. Due to an all-white jury finding Stinney guilting of murder, Judge Philip H. Stoll sentenced him to death by electric chair. There is no transcript of the trial and no appeal was filed by Stinney's counsel. Governor Olin D. Johnston was appealed for clemency, but Johnston only let Stinney's execution proceed. On June 14, just two days before Stinney's execution, Johnston wrote a response to one appeal for clemency, stating, "I have just talked with the officer who made the arrest in this case. It may be interesting for you to know that Stinney killed the smaller girl to rape the larger one. Then he killed the larger girl and raped her dead body. Twenty minutes later he returned and attempted to rape her again but her body was too cold. All of this he admitted himself." It was reported that these were merely rumors, and Johnston's claims were not corroborated by the girls' autopsies.

Stinney was executed on Friday, June 16, 1944, at 7:30 a.m. Relatives of Binnicker and Thames watched his execution. Due to Stinney's short height, a bible was used as a booster seat. He was then restrained by his arms, legs, and body to the chair. An officer asked Stinney if he had any last words, but he only said "No, sir." The executioner pulled a strap from the chair and placed it over Stinney's mouth, causing him to uncontrollably cry. The face mask was then placed over his face which did not fit him. When the lethal electricity was applied, the mask covering slipped off, revealing tears streaming down Stinney's face. Stinney was pronounced dead after 4 minutes.

70 years after his death, On December 17, 2014, Stinney was posthumously exonerated by Judge Carmen Mullen as she believed he did not receive a fair trial due to lack of evidence and violations of his constitutional rights, Thus the killer of Binnicker and Thames' identity being a mystery. Despite Stinney's exoneration, Relatives of Binnicker and Thames stated they never doubted his guilt.

• Emmett Till

• https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/remembering-the-execution-of-14-year-old-george-stinney-80-years-later