Justice still waits for state’s youngest person put to death

They say the wheels of justice turn slowly.

You don’t have to explain that to those who have been closely following the case of Alexander McClay Williams.

They’ve been waiting for justice for 85 years. They’re going to have to wait just a bit longer.

In 1931 Williams, a 16-yearold Delaware County youth, was put to death after being convicted in the brutal murder of a matron at Glen Mills School. Vida Robare, 34, was found in the second-floor bedroom of her on-site cottage. She had been stabbed 47 times with an icepick in October 1930. She also suffered a fractured skull and broken ribs. The crime appeared to be one of passion.

Williams, an African-American youth had been sent to the Glen Mills School for Boys when he was 12 for setting fire to a barn.

Those who argue that justice delayed is justice denied no doubt would take heart in the speed with which justice was meted out in the case. Williams was tried and convicted in less than a year.

When he was executed at the tender age of 16, Williams assumed the sad title that still shrouds his saga today as the youngest person ever put to death in Pennsylvania.

Ironically, in the initial stages of the investigation, none of the students at the school were considered suspects. A board member assured that all of the boys had been accounted for and he did not see how any of them could be considered to be complicit in the case.

Changing history is a different matter. The case is rife with allegations of witness tampering, racial bias and what many claim is a forced confession from the youth.

Now defense attorney Robert Keller is seeking to bring to a conclusion an 85-year hunt for justice.

Keller is asking the court to posthumously exonerate the youth.

“This case, which, in my humble opinion, is one of the real dark moments in the judicial history of our county, involves a child who is the youngest person to have been put to death in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Keller said. “We’re seeking some justice for a child who was just inappropriately handled by the criminal justice system and paid the ultimate price with his life, and we’re seeking some public acknowledgement of this matter and some redress in the court.”

Williams was represented at trial by William H. Ridley, the first African-American lawyer in the county, who had been assigned the case. Keller points out Ridley had just two months to mount a defense; the trial lasted just two days. No defense witnesses were called; the prosecution was able to provide three confessions of questionable origin.

An all-white Delaware County jury deliberated for four hours before convicting the youth in Robare’s murder. Williams was executed June 8, 1931, about six weeks shy of his 17th birthday, and less than a year from the date of the murder.

The case has been something of an obsession for Sam Lemon. The longtime educator is Ridley’s great-grandson. He has spent 30 years researching the case and is convinced it was a miscarriage of justice. He has written a book about the case titled, “The Case That Shocked the County.” He has done several public presentations on the notorious case.

Lemon says his research shows that actually about a dozen boys at the schools were unaccounted for at various points between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. that day. Among them was Williams, who was supposed to have killed Robare during a 20-minute period. Lemon believes his reconstruction of the events of that fateful day show it would be nearly impossible for Williams to have done everything he is accused of in that short time span.

Lemon’s research indicates Williams confessed while undergoing his third interrogation by police, during which no parent or attorney was present. Williams likely was confused and possibly did not know what he was saying.

Lemon was expected to testify at Friday’s hearing. The hearing was continued until April 6 while Keller corrects some issues with his petitions.

“As a practical matter, it’s not going to bring this kid back to life and it’s not really addressing the equities of the criminal justice system,” Keller said. “I’m trying to bring it to the public’s attention and really bring it full circle … back to the courthouse where this kid was convicted.”

We urge the court to quickly take up this matter.

Justice delayed is justice denied. And as those familiar with the case of Alexander McClay Williams can attest, justice carried out too swiftly is an injustice as well.