George Junius Stinney Jr. was a 14-year-old African American boy from Alcolu, South Carolina, whose execution in 1944 remains one of the most tragic and controversial cases in American history. He holds the grim distinction of being the youngest person in the United States to be executed by electric chair in the 20th century.
George lived in a segregated community with his family during a time when racial tensions were extremely high in the American South. On March 23, 1944, two young white girls, Betty June Binnicker (11) and Mary Emma Thames (7), were found dead after failing to return home. They had been brutally murdered, with evidence suggesting blunt force trauma to the head.
George and his younger sister, who had reportedly seen the girls the day before, were among the last known people to interact with them. George was arrested shortly after their bodies were found. He was questioned alone by white police officers without the presence of a lawyer, his parents, or any witnesses. Within hours, the authorities claimed George had confessed to the crime—although no written record of the confession was ever produced. His family, terrified of the racial hostility and fearing for their own safety, fled the town.
George’s trial took place on April 24, 1944, less than a month after the murders. It lasted only a few hours, and the all-white jury took just 10 minutes to find him guilty of murder. His defense attorney called no witnesses and did little to challenge the prosecution’s weak case. Despite being a child, George was sentenced to death.
On June 16, 1944, George Stinney was executed in the electric chair. At just 14 years old, his small frame was too short and thin for the equipment. Witnesses described how the adult-sized chair and mask barely fit him.
Decades later, activists, historians, and legal experts pushed for a reexamination of the case. In 2014, a South Carolina judge vacated George's conviction, citing fundamental violations of his constitutional rights. The court recognized that he had received an unfair trial and that there was little to no evidence linking him to the crime.
George Stinney’s story remains a powerful symbol of racial injustice, wrongful convictions, and the dangers of a legal system that fails to protect the rights of the most vulnerable. His case is now taught in schools and studied in legal and civil rights circles as a lesson in the urgent need for reform.
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