The Execution of Lena Baker

March 5, 1945 – On this day, an African American housekeeper named Lena Baker was executed in Georgia’s electric chair. She had been convicted of killing her white employer, Ernest Knight, but Baker always insisted she acted in self-defense.

At trial, Baker testified that Knight had physically and sexually abused her and was holding her prisoner in a gristmill. She said he threatened to kill her if she tried to escape. During a struggle, Baker managed to seize Knight’s pistol and shot him.

An all-white, all-male jury deliberated for about six hours before returning a guilty verdict. Baker’s court-appointed lawyer filed a motion for a new trial but failed to pursue further appeals.

After her request for clemency was denied, Baker was sent to the electric chair. Her final words were:

“What I done, I did in self-defense. I have nothing against anyone. I'm ready to meet my God.”

More than 60 years later, Baker’s family petitioned the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to review the case. In 2005 the board granted her a full posthumous pardon, describing the case as a miscarriage of justice.