The Lena Baker Story

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by tpksstories

by tpksstories

Lena Baker (June 8, 1900 –March 5, 1945) was an African American maid in Cuthbert, Georgia,United States, who was convicted of capital murder of a white man,Ernest Knight. She was executed by the state of Georgia in 1945.Baker was the only woman in Georgia to be executed by electrocution.

The slaying and execution came during adecades-long period of state suppression of civil rights of blackcitizens in white-dominated Georgia. The state had disenfranchisedblack people since the turn of the century, and imposed legal racialsegregation and second-class status on them. At the time of thetrial, a local newspaper reported that Baker was held as a "slavewoman" by Knight, and that she shot him in self-defenseduring a struggle.

In 2005, sixty years after herexecution, the state of Georgia granted Baker a full andunconditional pardon. A biography was published about Baker in 2001,and it was adapted for the feature film The Lena Baker Story (2008),chronicling the events of her life, trial, and execution.

Early life

Lena Baker was born June 8, 1900, to afamily of sharecroppers and raised near Cuthbert, Georgia. Herfamily, which included three siblings, moved to the county seat whenshe was a child. As a youth, she and her siblings all worked as farmlaborers; she chopped cotton for a farmer named J.A. Cox.

By the 1940s, Baker was the mother ofthree children and worked as a maid to support her family.

Killing

In 1944, Baker started working forErnest Knight, an older white man who had broken his leg. He owned agristmill and, upon sexually assaulting Lena multiple times, he wouldkeep her there imprisoned for days at a time in "nearslavery." Knight's son and townspeople disliked their"relationship," and tried to end it through threateningBaker. One night an argument between the two ensued, during whichKnight threatened Baker with an iron bar. As she tried to escape,they struggled over his pistol and she shot and killed him. Sheimmediately reported the incident and said she had acted inself-defense.

Trial and execution

Lena Baker was charged with capitalmurder and stood trial on August 14, 1944. The trial was presidedover by Judge William "Two Gun" Worrill, who kept apair of pistols in view on his judicial bench. At her trial, Bakertestified that Knight forced her to go with him on that Saturdayevening of April 29. The town disliked their sexual relationship andthe county sheriff had warned her to stay away from Knight, or riskbeing sent to jail. But she was afraid of Knight's physical abuse; hehad forced relations on her. His son had also beat her on anotheroccasion, warning her to stay away from his father. Baker said shegot away from Knight that night and slept in the woods. As shereturned to Cuthbert the next morning, Knight cornered her, takingher to the gristmill and locking her in. When Knight returned, Bakertold him she was leaving. According to Baker, they "tussledover the pistol," after he threatened her with an iron bar. She immediately reported it to J.A. Cox, the county coroner who hadpreviously employed her.

The all-white, all-male jury rejectedBaker's plea of self-defense and convicted her of capital murder bythe end of the first day of the trial. This charge carried anautomatic death sentence. In addition to the legal racial segregationimposed by the white-dominated Georgia legislature, it haddisenfranchised most black people since the turn of the century,which disqualified them from jury service. After Baker'scourt-appointed counsel, W.L. Ferguson, filed an appeal, he droppedBaker as a client.

Governor Ellis Arnall granted Baker a60-day reprieve so that the Board of Pardons and Parole could reviewthe case, but in January 1945 it denied Baker clemency. She wastransferred to Georgia State Prison at Reidsville on February 23,1945.

What I done, I did in self-defense,or I would have been killed myself. Where I was I could not overcomeit. God has forgiven me. I have nothing against anyone. I pickedcotton for Mr. Pritchett, and he has been good to me. I am ready togo. I am one in the number. I am ready to meet my God. I have a verystrong conscience.— Baker's last words

Baker was executed on March 5, 1945. She was buried in an unmarked grave behind Mount Vernon BaptistChurch, where she had sung in the choir.

Posthumous pardon

In 1998, members of the congregationarranged for a simple headstone for her grave. That year twoarticles were published about her case.

In 2003, descendants of Baker's familybegan to mark the anniversary of her death and Mother's Day at hergraveside. That year Baker's grandnephew, Roosevelt Curry, requestedan official pardon from the state, aided by the Georgia-based prisonadvocacy group, Prison and Jail Project.

In 2005, the Parole Board granted Bakera full and unconditional pardon. Commentators have suggested that in1945, the Board of Pardons and Parole could have lowered her chargeto voluntary manslaughter, which would have carried an average15-year sentence and saved her life.

Representation in other media

In 2001, Lela Bond Phillips, aprofessor at Andrew College, published a biography titled The LenaBaker Story, which was adapted into a feature film of the same namein 2008. Tichina Arnold played the role of Lena Baker.