In the small town of Cuthbert, Georgia, the life of Ernest William Bill Knight, a 61-year-old white male, came to an abrupt and violent end on April 30, 1944. Knight, the owner of a local gristmill, was a man known for his heavy drinking and for often carrying a pistol. His death was the result of a gunshot wound inflicted by Lena Baker, an African American maid he had employed.
The relationship between Knight and Baker was fraught with complexity and turmoil.
Knight had hired Baker to assist him after he had broken his leg. What began as an employment arrangement descended into a tumultuous and abusive sexual relationship. Knight, who was significantly older than Baker, reportedly held her against her will, treating her as a virtual prisoner.
On that fateful day in April, the volatile situation reached its tragic climax at Knight's gristmill. An altercation broke out between the two, during which Baker claimed that Knight threatened her life. In a desperate act of what she would later describe as self-defense, Baker shot Knight with his own pistol. Following the shooting, Baker was promptly arrested and charged with capital murder.
Baker's trial, which took place on August 14, 1944, was swift. Before a jury composed entirely of white men, her claims of self-defense were dismissed. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. On March 5, 1945, Lena Baker was executed by electrocution at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, the only woman to meet such a fate in the state's electric chair. Decades later, in 2005, the state of Georgia granted Lena Baker a posthumous pardon, a belated acknowledgment of the injustices she faced.
