| Lena Baker | |
|---|---|
1945 mugshot |
|
| Born | June 8, 1901 Cuthbert, Georgia |
| Died | March 5, 1945 (aged 43) Reidsville, Georgia |
| Conviction(s) | Capital murder |
| Penalty | Death by electrocution |
| Status | Executed |
| Occupation | Maid |
Lena Baker (June 8, 1901 – March 5, 1945) was an African American maid who was executed for murder by the State of Georgia in 1945 for killing her employer, Ernest Knight, 67,[1] in 1944. At her trial she claimed that he had imprisoned and threatened to shoot her should she attempt to leave, whereupon she took his gun and shot him. Baker was the only woman to be executed by electrocution in Georgia.[2] She was granted a full and unconditional pardon by the State of Georgia in 2005, 60 years after her execution.
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Baker was born and raised in Cuthbert, Georgia to a family of poor black sharecroppers. Her mother, Queenie, worked for a farmer named J.A. Cox, chopping cotton.[3]
Lena Baker was charged with capital murder and stood trial on August 14, 1944, presided over by Judge William "Two Gun" Worrill, who kept a pair of pistols on his judicial bench in plain view.[4] The all-white male jury convicted her by the end of the afternoon.[4] Her court-appointed counsel, W.L. Ferguson, filed an appeal but then dropped Baker as a client.[4] Governor Ellis Arnall granted Lena a 60-day reprieve so that the Board of Pardons and Parole could review the case, but clemency was denied in January 1945.[5] Baker was transferred to Reidsville State Prison on February 23, 1945.[5]
On entering the execution chamber, Baker calmly sat in the electric chair, called Old Sparky, and said "What I done, I did in self-defense, or I would have been killed myself. Where I was I could not overcome it. God has forgiven me. I have nothing against anyone. I picked cotton for Mr. Pritchett, and he has been good to me. I am ready to go. I am one in the number. I am ready to meet my God. I have a very strong conscience."[4][6] Initially she was buried in an unmarked grave behind Mount Vernon Baptist Church. Since her pardoning a simple head stone has been placed above her grave. [6]
In 2001, members of Baker's family petitioned to have a pardon granted by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, seeing the original verdict as racist.[1] This was granted in 2005, with the Parole Board granting her a full and unconditional pardon,[7] suggesting a verdict of manslaughter, which would have carried a 15-year sentence.[1][8]