George Stinney

George Junius Stinney Jr. (October 21, 1929 – June 16, 1944) was, at age 14, the youngest person executed in the United 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, on March 23, 1944. The next day, he was charged with first-degree murder. The trial took place on April 24 at the Clarendon County Courthouse. After jury 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 the electric chair. Hundreds of people, including organizations such as the N.A.A.C.P., churches, and unions pleaded with governor Olin D. Johnston to stop the execution. He refused, saying he had studied the case and found no reason to intervene..

Execution

The execution was carried out at the South Carolina State Penitentiary in Columbia, South Carolina on the morning of June 16, 1944, less than three months after the crime. At 7:30 a.m. Stinney walked to the execution chamber, a Bible 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..

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.

External links

• http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/child/1.html
• Juveniles on Alabama's Death Row at www.geocities.com