A man who was executed after being found guilty in a rape and murder case in 1953 near Dallas Love Field airport has been exonerated. On Wednesday, 70 years later, Tommy Lee Walker was declared innocent by the Commissioners Court of Dallas.
In 1953, 19-year-old Black male Tommy Lee Walker was arrested and charged with the murder of Venice Parker. The White store clerk had been sexually assaulted as well as stabbed when waiting for the bus after she had finished her shift at a nearby toy store.
She was brought to the hospital by a passing driver, where she was pronounced dead. Two witnesses told police they had seen Tommy Lee Walker leave the area that same night.
