100 years after teen’s death family files lawsuit

By Hayden Mitman PHILADELPHIA, PA — Alexander McClay Williams, who was executed at 16 after being convicted of murder in 1931, is the youngest person put to death in Pennsylvania. The family of a teen who was executed by the state of Pennsylvania after being convicted of murder in 1931 have filed a lawsuit seeking damages nearly 100 years after his death. On Monday, attorneys for the family of Alexander McClay Williams, who was executed by the state when he was just 16-years-old, announced that they were bringing forward a lawsuit over Williams’ execution after his conviction was vacated in 2022 and a new trial was ordered. However, Williams was not retried posthumously, and his record was expunged back in 2017. Williams’ family have long professed his innocence. In fact, in 2022, in dismissing charges against the teen, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer argued that Williams should never have faced charges in the first place. “Sadly, we cannot undo the past. We cannot rewrite history to erase the egregious wrongs of our forebearers,” Stollsteimer said then. “However, when, as here, justice can be served by publicly acknowledging such a wrong, we must seize that opportunity.” Now, citing Williams’ wrongful...