The Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) at Northeastern University School of Law, in partnership with the Innocence Project of New York, has successfully advocated for official recognition of one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in Texas history. Following extensive research and advocacy by CRRJ, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office has acknowledged that 19-year-old Tommy Lee Walker was wrongfully convicted and executed for the 1953 murder of Venice Lorraine Parker.

On January 21, 2025, after a three-hour hearing, the Dallas County Commissioners Court declared that Tommy Lee Walker “was and is innocent” of the crime for which he was executed by the State of Texas.

In 2022 the case was submitted to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit by CRRJ and the Innocence Project, on behalf of Edward Lee Smith, Mr. Walker’s son. Smith was represented at the hearing on January 21 by CRRJ Director and Northeastern Law Professor Margaret Burnham. This case is the oldest case investigated to date by Conviction Integrity Unit.

Under Burnham’s leadership — with support from CRRJ Staff Attorney and Program Director Alex Stein, and in partnership with the Innocence Project, the Conviction Integrity Unit — NUSL students and staff conducted meticulous historical research, uncovering evidence of constitutional violations, including coercive interrogation tactics and unreliable eyewitness identifications that permeated every aspect of Mr. Walker’s prosecution.

“At the end of the day, our criminal justice system must address its fatal errors, no matter how long ago they occurred,” said Northeastern Law Professor Margaret Burnham, CRRJ director and co-counsel to Mr. Smith. “This is the thrust of all our work. Clearing Mr. Walker’s name acknowledges him as a legally cognizable being, entitled — even after death — to justice, brings a measure of peace to his loved ones, and salutes those who, 70 years ago, fought to obtain justice for him — and for themselves.

This case reminds us of how much must still be done to map the lethality and legacy of Jim Crow terror.”

CRRJ’s investigation revealed that Mr. Walker, a Black teenager expecting the birth of his first child, was arrested during a period of heightened racial tensions in Dallas. The city’s white community, gripped by fear over reports of a “Negro Prowler,” pressured police to make an arrest. Hundreds of Black men were rounded up based solely on the color of their skin before suspicion fell on Mr. Walker.

The investigation uncovered that Mr. Walker was interrogated by Dallas Police Captain J. Will Fritz, a one-time member of the Ku Klux Klan, who employed coercive tactics now known to produce false confessions. Despite having multiple alibi witnesses who placed him at his pregnant girlfriend’s side during the crime, Mr. Walker was convicted by an all-white, all-male jury and ultimately executed. Mr. Walker’s son was born just hours after the crime took place.

Mr. Smith reflected on the significance of this acknowledgment. “It was hard growing up without a father,” he said. “When I was in school, kids talked about their dads, and I had nothing to say. This won’t bring him back, but now the world knows what we always knew —  that he was an innocent man. And that brings some peace.”

CRRJ’s research documented numerous constitutional violations in Mr. Walker’s case, including the denial of his constitutional right to a jury of his peers; suppression of evidence contradicting physical evidence and witness descriptions; coercive interrogation techniques; prosecutorial misconduct by then-District Attorney Henry Wade; and an over-reliance on eyewitness identification now known to be unreliable.

The case reflects CRRJ’s mission to investigate historical cases of racial injustice and wrongful convictions, particularly those involving racial terror and systemic discrimination in the Jim Crow era. By partnering with district attorneys’ offices and conviction integrity units, CRRJ works to bring truth and accountability to cases long obscured by time and deliberate erasure.

In its official statement, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged that “Tommy Lee Walker’s conviction is based on false evidence and unethical prosecution” and stated unequivocally: “With the evidence available to us and the knowledge we have obtained over decades of scientific study, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office of today would not have pursued a criminal case against Mr. Tommy Lee Walker for the sexual assault and murder of Venice Parker.”

This recognition by public officials in Dallas County that an innocent Black teenager was killed by the State for a crime he did not commit represents a significant victory for restorative justice and demonstrates the vital role that CRRJ has played in uncovering historical wrongs. Under the auspices of its Wrongful Conviction Project CRRJ continues to investigate similar cases across the country, working to ensure that the stories of those denied justice are finally told and their names are cleared.

Top: Edward Smith testifies at the posthumous hearing for his father, Tommy Lee Walker on Jan. 21, 2026. Photo: Shelby Tauber.