People Who Were Incarcerated For Crimes They Didn’t Commit

Frank Lee Smith Was Exonerated — Many Years After He Died

An eight-year-old girl was killed in her home during a burglary. She was hit on the head repeatedly with a rock and then strangled. She was also sexually assaulted. Neighbors and the victim’s mother claimed a black man around 30 years old killed the little girl. The mother put together a sketch for the police, who arrested Frank Lee Smith based on her description of him. At the end of the trial, the jury unanimously called for the death penalty. Smith won a stay of execution. Unfortunately, he died of cancer on January 30, 2000. Fourteen years after his conviction he was exonerated based on DNA testing.