Darryl Hunt, wrongly convicted of murder, found dead
Darryl Hunt speaks briefly to a small but attentive crowd at UNC on April 10, 2007. hlynch@newsobserver.com N&O file photo by Harry Lynch
Darryl Hunt, imprisoned for more than 19 years for a murder
he did not commit, was found dead in a car in Winston-Salem early
Sunday.
In 1984 at age 19, Hunt was charged with the
rape and murder of a newspaper copy editor. The case was racially
charged. Hunt was black and the murder victim was white.
Hunt
spoke against the death penalty for years after his exoneration in
2004, exhibiting a calm that made an impression on friends and
strangers.
He traversed the the state with People of
Faith Against the Death Penalty and traveled overseas with the
documentary “The Trials of Darryl Hunt,” speaking about abolishing the
death penalty and improving the justice system.
“I think everyone
who saw Darryl speak was deeply moved by the resilience and kindness and
gentleness with which he spoke,” said Stephen Dear, executive director
of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.
In a statement,
police said that officers received a call early Sunday of a person
believed to be dead inside a car near the Wake Forest University campus.
Officers found a man identified as Hunt, unresponsive inside the car.
Hunt had been diagnosed with cancer. A cause of death was not released.
At
his original trial, Hunt was convicted of first-degree murder and
barely escaped getting the death penalty. The conviction was overturned,
and he was tried a second time in Catawba County in 1990, and again he
was convicted.
After 19 years in prison, Hunt was exonerated in
February 2004 after DNA evidence led police to Willard Brown, who
confessed to the killing. After he was exonerated, Hunt was pardoned by
then-Gov. Mike Easley. He was awarded a settlement of more than $1.6
million in 2007 and founded the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and
Justice, an advocacy group for the wrongfully convicted.
But Hunt
was also haunted by his experiences, said those who knew him. He would
use ATMs daily, not so much to get money but so he could create a
time-stamped receipt and an image recording his location.
“Even
after all this time – he still carries this kind of fear and anxiety,”
said Phoebe Zerwick, who in 2003 as a reporter for the Winston-Salem
Journal, wrote an eight-part series on Hunt’s case.
Zerwick now
teaches at Wake Forest University and regularly asked Hunt to speak to
classes. His last spoke to a group of her students in late January.
“Anybody I’ve ever met who has met him has been deeply touched by him,” she said. “He’s really moving to college students.”
Mark
Rabil is an attorney who represented Hunt from his first trial through
to his civil settlement with Winston-Salem more than two decades later.
Rabil
said he knew Hunt was innocent the first time they talked. “He was very
open and trusting,” Rabil said. “There didn’t seem to be any question
about it.”
Rabil and Hunt recently traveled together to the University of Virginia for a program at its public policy school.
Hunt often talked about the problems of people released from prison, Rabil said. Hunt called it “homecoming.”
The
trauma of wrongful convictions, years in prison, and the
responsibilities he took on after he was free wore Hunt down, Rabil
said.
“In the long run, he eventually got the death penalty,” Rabil said.
The Associated Press contributed.
Darryl Hunt, wrongly convicted of murder, found dead
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