The family of Alexander McClay Williams, the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania, is suing Delaware County for his wrongful conviction and execution in 1931.
Williams, a 16-year-old Black teenager, was exonerated by the governor in 2022.
Williams was convicted of the October 1930 murder of Vida Robare, a white woman found stabbed 47 times at her cottage on the grounds of a reform school.
Despite the presence of an adult’s bloody handprint at the scene, Williams, who had smaller hands, became the primary suspect. He was held without access to his parents or a lawyer and eventually signed three confessions.
Convicted by an all-white jury, Williams was executed five months later. The prosecution ignored exculpatory evidence, including Robare’s divorce on grounds of “extreme cruelty” from her ex-husband, who discovered the body.
The family’s federal lawsuit, filed by Philadelphia lawyer Joseph Marrone, targets Delaware County and the estates of two detectives and a prosecutor involved in the case. Marrone emphasized the lack of evidence linking Williams to the crime, describing him as a “convenient Black boy” for the detectives and prosecutor.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, who exonerated Williams, called the execution “an egregious miscarriage of justice.”
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer also acknowledged the violation of Williams’ constitutional rights, leading to a judge vacating the conviction.
Williams was initially sent to the Glen Mills School for Boys for arson. The school closed in 2019 following revelations of long-term child abuse. Samuel Lemon, an author and educator whose great-grandfather, William H. Ridley, defended Williams, played a key role in uncovering the truth.
Lemon’s research revealed significant issues with the case, including the misreporting of Williams’ age and the abusive history of Robare’s ex-husband.
At a press conference, Susie Williams Carter, the last surviving sibling of Williams, expressed her family’s enduring pain and demand for justice.
The Williams family was supported by nine other Black exonerees, including Jimmy Dennis and Michael White, who highlighted systemic issues in the justice system.
Dennis, recently awarded $16 million after spending 25 years on death row, joined others in calling for accountability and justice for wrongful convictions.
The lawsuit seeks to hold those responsible for Williams’ execution accountable and to obtain compensation for the family’s suffering.
