Darryl Hunt

Darryl Hunt (February 24, 1965 – March 13, 2016) was an African-American man from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who, in 1984, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and the murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white newspaper copy editor. After being convicted in that case, Hunt was tried in 1987 for the 1983 murder of Arthur Wilson, a 57-year-old black man of Winston-Salem. Both convictions were overturned on appeal in 1989. Hunt was tried again in the Wilson case in 1990; he was acquitted by an all-white jury. He was tried again on the Sykes charges in 1991; he was convicted.

In 1994, the defense gained DNA testing of physical evidence in the Sykes case; this test was not available at the time of Hunt's trial in 1984. It showed that he could not have committed the rape, but a Forsyth County judge ruled that the DNA would not have been sufficient evidence to gain an acquittal, as he could still have been involved in the murder. Hunt was held in prison until 2004, when he was fully exonerated of the murder and released after serving 19 years.

Becoming a modern cause célèbre, Hunt's case was said to have "helped define race relations in Winston-Salem for 20 years." It resulted in an internal review and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation making its own inquiry in 1986. Incumbent District Attorney Donald K. Tisdale lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary that same year. resulting in changes to state law. That year the state also established the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, to review cases post-conviction in which defendants and their attorneys believe they were wrongfully convicted.

While in prison, Darryl Hunt became a Muslim and worked as a volunteer with the national Innocence Project. After being released, he was given settlements by the city and state. He founded The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice, devoted to "educating the public about flaws in the criminal justice system, advocating for those wrongfully incarcerated as a result of those flaws, and providing resources and support for those trying to rebuild their lives." He spoke widely on wrongful convictions and worked for reforms to criminal laws of North Carolina.

Darryl Hunt died in 2016 in Winston-Salem from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Friends had been worried about his mental health and possible depression.

Background Hunt was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1965. He had an older brother Willie and a younger sister; the children were mostly raised by their maternal grandparents, William Stroud and his wife. Stroud was a foreman for the city's street department. For years the children were told their mother Jean, who visited, was their aunt. She was killed when Hunt was nine and he said that as a teenager, he was haunted by her death. The children attended local schools for a time; Hunt dropped out of high school. He went to Monterey, California with a cousin but returned to his hometown at age 18.

His grandfather had bequeathed him some money that Hunt used to get an apartment with a girlfriend and her young daughter. He worked in construction but within a year, he was no longer working, had split with the girlfriend and lost the apartment. He started hanging out or running with Sammy Mitchell, an older friend whom he had known for years.

History of the Sykes case In August 1984, Deborah Sykes, a young, white, married copy editor, was raped and murdered by stabbing in the early morning about 6 am on her way to work at The Sentinel newspaper in Winston-Salem. She had recently started working there, having returned to her home state in July from the Chattanooga News-Free Press in Tennessee.

A witness placed Sammy Mitchell and Darryl Hunt, two young African-American men, near the scene of the crime, but was not positive about the identification. Experts have criticized the way the line-up was conducted in which Hunt was identified, noting that the police officer who conducted the line-up knew Hunt was a suspect and could have influenced the witness. Secondly, in one lineup, Hunt's photo had a different background than those of other men. In the separate vote for sentencing, Hunt was spared the death penalty because none of the jurors voted for the capital sentence. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He was indicted again in 1990 for the crimes against Sykes, under a new county district attorney. Mitchell was also indicted that year in Sykes' death but was never brought to trial. Warren Sparrow had defeated incumbent Donald K. Tisdale in the 1986 Democratic primary for District Attorney, largely due to a backlash by the black community over the latter's handling of Hunt's trial. Hunt's defense attorney gained a change in venue for his client's trial, as the case had been widely publicized in the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County areas. "Faced with a retrial in rural Catawba County, prosecutors offered a plea bargain to Hunt that would have set him free. Rather that admit guilt, Hunt turned down the deal." Hunt's attorney filed a series of appeals. According to Regina Lane, who had gone to the police in 1985 about the attack on her, especially because of similarities to the Sykes case, officers discouraged her from pressing charges. "The Sykes Administrative Review Committee concluded that Winston-Salem police investigators made numerous mistakes in not connecting Lane's rape with Sykes' murder." Brown's confession ultimately resulted in the full exoneration and release of Darryl Hunt in 2004, who by then had served more than 19 years of a life sentence for crimes which he denied committing.

On February 6, 2004, Superior Court Judge Anderson Cromer held a release hearing on Hunt. Sykes' mother Evelyn Jefferson took the stand and criticized the judge for proposing to release a man she still believed was guilty. When given a chance to speak, Hunt offered her and the Sykes family his condolences for their loss, and forgave everyone for the years he spent in prison. Judge Cromer vacated Hunt’s murder conviction in the case. The city issued a formal apology to Darryl Hunt and made a settlement for his wrongful conviction and years in jail.

Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, credited Hunt with contributing to the passage of the legislature of a law establishing the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, to investigate cases of wrongful convictions. It was the first such independent commission in the United States. From 2007 through March 2017, it has exonerated ten inmates. After the act was passed, most of the 153 persons on death row filed appeals. From 2009 to June 2013, four persons received amended sentences to life imprisonment. He used much of the money to support his effort to help others. In 2004 Hunt had received a settlement of $358,545 under a state law that provides $20,000 for every year of wrongful imprisonment. Friends had been worried that he was not taking good care of himself and suffering from depression. Hunt had told friends he was terminally ill with cancer; however, his autopsy report from the medical examiner found no evidence of this, nor did his medical records mention any diagnosis of cancer. This may have been to cover up his weight loss from suspected drug use. The film explores the "deeply personal story of a wrongfully convicted man." It was directed and produced by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. First shown on HBO, in 2013 it was available via streaming on Netflix. Leigh Somerville McMillan, a journalist for the Winston-Salem Journal, wrote the book Long Time Coming (2007) about this case. McMillan includes comments from Jo Anne North Goetz, Hunt's sixth-grade teacher, who had steadfast belief in his innocence. Stephen B. Boyd wrote the book Making Justice Our Business: The Wrongful Conviction of Darryl Hunt and the Work of Faith (2011) (978-1-60899-966-8). It chronicles Hunt’s story: his conviction for the Sykes murder, time in prison, exoneration, and the community that never lost faith in his innocence. It argues for persons of faith to seek justice for others in their community. "On Her Own," an episode of the crime documentary series Cold Blood, explored the Sykes murder and Hunt case. It included "interviews, file footage, forensic evidence and dramatic re-enactments." Phoebe Zerwick, investigative journalist and professor at Wake Forest University, wrote: "Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt" (2022) (978-0802159373) which tells the powerful story of Darryl Hunt’s wrongful incarceration, the struggles to prove his innocence, and the challenges he faced after being released and proved innocent.