►10 Innocent People Sentenced to DEATH (TT #18):
10. Ruben Cantu - convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a robbery in San Antonio, TX in 1984. He was executed in 1993 at the age of 26. In 2005, a thorough investigation by the Texas district court found that Cantu was actually innocent and that his trial was riddled with errors.
9. Leonel Herrera - convicted of the murder of two police officers in Texas in 1981 murder based largely on the testimony of a co-defendant who received a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against Herrera. Despite appeals and public outcry, Herrera was executed in 1993 before new evidence emerged supporting his innocence, including a confession by Johnny Paul Penry to a fellow inmate.
8. David Spence - convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal murder of three teenagers near Lake Waco, TX in 1982, based largely on the testimony of co-defendants who later recanted their testimony. He was executed in 1997, but questions about his guilt remain and his case is still under review.
7. Leo James - convicted and sentenced to death for the sniper killing of a police officer in Jacksonville, FL in 1991, based largely on the testimony of an eyewitness who later recanted and forensic evidence that was later discredited. He was exonerated in 1999 after spending 7 years on death row.
6. Larry Griffin - convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection for a Missouri drive-by shooting in 1980 based largely on the testimony of a single eyewitness who later recanted. He was executed in 1995 despite continued protests from his family and supporters.
5. Ellis Wayne Felker - convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a convenience store clerk named Wilbur Cleveland Jr. in Augusta, GA in 1981 based largely on the testimony of a co-defendant who later recanted his testimony. He was executed in 1996 despite doubts about his guilt and concerns about the fairness of his trial.
4. Lena Baker - convicted and sentenced to death for the 1945 murder of her employer, a white man named Ernest Knight, after a trial that was marred by racism, an unfair legal system, and a lack of adequate defense counsel. She was posthumously pardoned in 2005, but her case highlights the injustices faced by black women in the US criminal justice system.
3. Carlos DeLuna - convicted of the stabbing death of a woman named Wanda Lopez in Corpus Christi, TX in 1983, He was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in 1989, but a re-investigation of the case in 2012 revealed that DeLuna was likely innocent.
2. Cameron Todd Willingham - convicted of setting a fire that killed his three young daughters in their Texas home in 1991. Willingham was sentenced to death in 1992 and was executed by lethal injection in 2004. Numerous experts in fire science have since concluded that the fire was not intentionally set, but instead was likely caused by faulty wiring.
1. Jesse Tafero - convicted and executed for the murder of two Florida highway patrol officers in 1976, based largely on the testimony of a co-defendant who later recanted and the testimony of a jailhouse informant. His execution in 1990 was one of the most controversial in modern US

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