During her 1990 trial,
Smith, née Sabrina
Butler, now 50, was
convicted of murdering
her infant son, Walter.
She was just 18. Her
court-appointed
attorneys called no
witnesses who could
have testified thatthe boy’s injuries were
consistent with her
efforts to revive him
after he’d stopped
breathing. Butler
wasn’t put on the
stand to support her
claim of innocence.
Citing improper
actions by prosecutors,Mississippi’s supreme
court ordered a new
trial, which resulted in
her exoneration. She’s
one of only two U.S.
women on death row
to be exonerated; the
other is Debra Milke
of Arizona, who spent
25 years in prison.Sabrina
Smith
LOWNDES COUNTY, MS
5 YEARS IN PRISON,
HALF OF THEM ON DEATH ROW;
EXONERATED IN 1995
80 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC