Locals say it is time for change and answers
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THfc CHRONICLE ;
For many African-Americans
in the city, the Darryl Hunt case is
an example of why the relation
ship between law enforcement
and the black community has been
chilly. Blacks say their rights and
liberties are far too often trampled
on by cops and prosecutors who
have no respect for people of color
and often, the truth.
"I am hoping now this city
will pay attention when people say
there is injustice," said state Rep.
Larry Womble. Hunt, an African
American, was tried twice and
convicted of the murder of white
newspaper copy editor Deborqh
Sykes. DNA evidence has exclud
ed him as the person who raped
Sykes, and the man whose DNA
was found at the Sykes crime
scene said he acted alone. Hunt
was released last week after serv
ing close to two decades in prison
for the crime.
In the early 1990s, Womble.
then a city alderman, held up the
Hunt case when he called Win
ston- SQ]em a racist city. Womble's
characterization of Winston
Salem cost the city the prestigious
All-America City Award from the
National Civic League. Last
PtMu by Kevin Walfcrt
Darryl and
April Hunt
walk inta
Emmanuel
Baptist
Church
along with
Hurt's long
time friend
Larry Little.
week, Womble said the release of
Hunt gives the city an opportunity
to try to mend the racial divide
that has kept blacks separate from
whites for so long.
"This is just a first step toward
the healing. Lord knows this city
needs some healing." he said.
Robert "Hoppy" Elliot, the
chairman of the city's Human
Relations Commission, called the
Hunt release a "teachable"
moment for the city.
"We have to get people to
focus on what happened: An inno
cent man spent close to 19 years in
prison, and the reason is because
our systems were not responding."
Elliot said. "It is not an easy task.
We have people who will want to
move on and say the system
works, but it did not work for Dar
ryl Hunt."
The city's Police Department,
which led the controversial inves
tigation. has taken a beating over
the Hunt case. Hunt's release and
a widespread belief among blacks
that cops worked against Hunt
instead of looking for the truth
have only added to the rift
betWeen the department and
blacks.
Mayor Pro Tern Vivian Burke
said residents have to feel confi
dent that the department acted on
the up and up in the case. She said
the City Council will be address
ing the issue of how to help the
department build trust. Until the
issue is addressed. Burke said, it
will hang over the police and the
city.
"It is a cloud over the city,"
she said. Burice and City Council
members Nelson Malloy, Joyce
lyn Johnson and Fred Terry and
Mayor Allen Joines were on hand
for a homecoming celebration for
Hunt last week at Emmanuel Bap
tist Church. Joines said he hopes
the public takes some solace in the
fact that a city police detective,
Mike Rowe, took the initiative to
take a DNA sample from the man
who has now been charged in the
Sykes case.
"I would hope that since it was
a Winston-Salem police detective,
1 hope that demonstrates there is
an openness in the department to
want to get some truth," Joines
said.
The Forsyth County District
Attorney's Office also has dirty
hands as a result of the Hunt case,
even though current DA Tom
Keith was not in office during
either of the Hunt trials. Keith's
relationship with the black com
munity has never been good. It
was made worse last week when
Keith held up the release of Hunt
for several hours. Outraged black
leaderi vowed to work together to
address what they called Keith's
insensitivity. County Commis
sioner Walter Marshall, a former
head of the local NAACP chapter,
said the DA's office and police
should let go of egos and try to
correct the flaws that were made
in the Hunt case.
"The DA should recognize
that prosecution should not be
about just getting somebody,"
Marshall said. "We need to make
sure that the Police Department is
not used to victimize people, but
to seek the truth."
The release of Hunt came as
the city manager is in the midst of
a search process to find a new
chief for the Police Department.
Current Chief Linda Davis will
retire in February.
City Council member Johnson
said whoever the new chief is. he
or she will inherit baggage.
"Whoever comes, has to come
with the skills to deal with that."
she said.
The Police Department has
agreed to allow the State Bureau
of Investigation to work with it in
future investigation of the Sykes
case. The City Council has
applauded that decision.
Hunt
from page A 1
porter. "What happened to him
has happened before and it will
happen again."
Even as they celebrated, sup
porters said they were reminded
that the legal system doesn't
always play fair. Factors of denial
and racism - factors that Hunt
supporters said played lead roles
in his imprisonment in the first
place - seemed to rear their ugly
heads the night before Hunt's
Christmas Eve release.
Supporters had gathered at
Emmanuel Baptist Church at 8:30
p.m. on Dec. 23 to wait for Hunt
to be released. Hunt's longtime
attorney. Mark Rabil. said he had
gotten indication that Hunt, who
by this time had been relocated to
the Forsyth County Jail from a
prison hi Asheboro, would be
? released. Supporters waited, wait
ed and waited, sometimes filling
the tirae with prayers. It was
almoM 10 p.m. when .the Rev.
John Mendez. pastor of
Emmanuel, got a call. The look
on his face told the story.
"It is not going to happen," he
told supporters.
District Attorney Tom Keith
halted the release, saying that he
still had more investigation to do.
Hunt supporters called that hog
wash. They saw the delay as yet
another way the system refused to
admit its flaws even in light of
DNA and logic.
"It is quite clear that the DNA
evidence is overwhelming. .. It
looks to me that they are shifting
the goalpost," said Larry Little,
who was the first to take on
Hunt's cause back in 1984.
Rabil was angry that Hunt
was made to spend an extra night
in jail - so angry that he barricad
ed himself behind a door for close
to half an hour after learning
about the delay. He emerged to
Hunt (|rN<l Oty Council member Nelson Malloy.
address the news media.
"We are baffled that he is in
prison and that he will remain
there tonight." Rabil said. "There
is no reason that Darryl Hunt
should be"held in jail in further "
Case without legs
Patrick Hairston didn't need
DNA evidence to convince him
that Darryl Hunt did not do the
things that police and prosecutors
said he did. Hairston was the pres
ident of the city's NAACP chap
ter in 1984 when Hunt, then 19,
was arrested for the Sykes mur
der.
"You can't tell me that a 19
year-old with no job would wake
up at 5 o'clock in the morning and
then think about going to kill a
woman." Hairston said as he
waited at Emmanuel for Hunt's
release Dec. 24.
The case against Hunt was
built on the testimony of a num
ber of people who connected
Hunt to the stabbing and rape of
Sykes. who was killed after park
ing her car and walking toward
her job at a now-defunct, after
noon newspaper. But the prosecu
tion witnesses were a motley
crew of unsavory characters - a
prostitute, a drug user and even a
former member of the Ku K)ux
Klan. Hunt was convicted,
though, by a jury that had only
one black member. Prosecutors
wanted the death penalty, but the
jury decided on a life sentence.
State Rep. Larry Womble
remembers that first trial well. He
said the tensions between blacks,
who overwhelmingly believed in
Hunt's innocence, and whites.
Moratorium
from page A J
editor, in 1985. Prosecutors
sought the death penalty in the
case, but the jury, citing its
uneasiness over whether Hunt
was involved in the crime,
decided on a life sentence^-In
the early 1990s. DNA evi
dence ruled out Hunt as the
person who raped Sykes
before the murder, but courts
determined that fact was not
enough to earn Hunt his free
dom. Last week, the man
whose DNA matches the sam
ples taken from Sykes' body
was charged with her murder
and rape. That man, Willard
Bjown. has told prosecutors
that he acted alone.
The growing debate in
North Carolina about a mora
torium - which would halt
executions in the state for two
years so that the punishment
could be examined for flaws
- centers around the con
tention that the crimUfeil jus
tice system is unkind and
unjust to poor black defen
dants. especially when they
are accused of crimes against
whites. A moratorium bill has
already cleared the . N.C.
House. The Senate is expected
to take up the measure in May
when the General Assembly
reconvenes. State Rep. Ear
line Parmon said she will take
Hunt's story with her to
Raleigh as an example of why
the state needs a moratorium.
"We should not execute
another person until we make
sure this will never happen
again," Parmon said. She and
Forsyth County colleague
Rep. Larry Womble have been
at the forefront of the morato
rium movement. In early
December, they took part in a
rally for Robbie Lyons in
front of the Forsyth County
Hall of Justice. Lyons, who
was con
victed of
killing a
Forsyth
County
store
owner,
became
the sev
enth per
son exe
cuted in
North
Carolina since August. There
have been a record number of
executions in North Carolina
this year.
"In a way Darryl Hunt is
extremely lucky. Maybe fate
was watching over him. He
could have been sentenced to
death. But by him not being
sentenced to death, it gave
time for him to save his life."
Womble said. Womble fears
that with (be swift pace at
which the state's execution
chamber is being used, some
like Hum may have already
met their maker.
"What about those people
who. ..are in there graves? We
can't bring them back. That is
further testament that this
should not be a state that we
should have that kind of pun
ishment," Womble said.
There are many, however,
opposed to a moratorium. One
of the biggest opponents, iron
ically, is current Forsyth
County District Attorney Tom
Keith, who was not the DA
during Hunt's prosecution but
has been viewed by many as
reluctant to admit prosecutors
made lots of mistakes in the
Hunt case. Keith spoke
against a moratorium and for
victims' rights in 2000 when
the Winston-Salem City
Council voted to pass a reso
lution supporting a moratori
um. That resolution, along
with similar ones from city
councils in Charlotte and
Greensboro, was sent to the
governor and legislators.
Linda Sutton, the convener
of the Black Leadership
Roundtable. said that if the
Hunt case can't sway morato
rium opponents. then nothing
else wijl. Sutton, was one pf
the organizers of the Lyons
rally, and the roundtable, a
grassroots organization that
focuses on social and racial
justice Issues, has wholeheart
edly endorsed a moratorium.
"This is what (moratorium
supporters) have been talking
about. They could have killed
this man fpr nothing," Sutton
said.
Last week. Parmon said
she and Womble planned to
call Gov. Mike Easley to
"hold up" the Hunt case.
Easley, the state's former
attorney general, has refused
to support a moratorium.
who felt the complete opposite,
were volatile. Hunt's release was
something that Womble said he
knew would happen.
"It is like my grandmother
always used to say. Truth
crushed to the ground will rise
again,"' Womble said.
In the Hunt case, truth came
in the form of DNA. In 1994 -
four years after Hunt won another
trial and a second jury, this one
all-white, found him guilty once
more - it was determined that
DNA taken from Sykes' body did
not match Hunt's or any of the
other men that prosecutors say
acted in collusion with Hunt.
Anger in the black community
grew when the DNA mismatch
did not win Hunt his freedom.
That would come nearly 10
years later, when investigators last
week found the man whose DNA
matched that of the samples taken
from the crime scene! That man.
Willard Brown, has now been
charged in the crime. He has told
law enforcement that he acted
alone and apologized to Hunt and
the city.
"Thank God for DNA,"
County Commissioner Walter
Marshall said. Marshall also has
led the local NAACP chapter. He
waited for Hunt to arrive at
Emmanuel last week because he
w anted to witness the end of the
Hunt saga just as he had wit
nessed the ups and downs over
the years.
"I felt that he would one day
be free, so I am oveijoyed right
now," Marshall said. "It is a good
feeling to know that the system
has worked - finally."
Hunt reborn
Those who are closest to Dar
ryl Hunt say he put his years
behind bars to good use. Friends
liken his transformation from a
19-year-old street kid to a 38
year-old thoughtful, spiritual man
to a metamorphosis.
"He was a street thug, a wino.
You would not have wanted your
children to be like him," the Rev.
Carlton Eversley said, describing
the Hunt who went to prison
almost two decades ago.
Imam Khalid Griggs said he
recognized the longing in Hunt to
want to change, to become a bet
ter person. Griggs began making
trips to prison to see Hunt, often
taking him books and other edu
cational items. Griggs said Hunt
did more than read the books: He
studied them, storing many of
Pho?o* by Kevin Walker
Larry Little wipes tears from his eyes last week.
them to memory.
"Now you can talk to him and
ask him about so many books and
so many topics," said Griggs.
Hunt converted to Islam. He
remains close to his faith. His first
stop last week after he was
released was to the Community
Mosque to pray. The mosque,
which Griggs leads, had erected a
sign a few days before Hunt's
release. It read, "Free Darryl Hunt
Now, Enough is Enough." Hunt
also married while in prison. His
wife, April, is the daughter of
Griggs.
April Hunt was the first to
share with him the news that
investigators had found the man
whose DNA matched that taken
from the Sykes crime scene. At
Hunt's homecoming at
Emmanuel, he teared up as he
thanked his wife, who sat to his
left clasping his hand as he made
remarks.
"She came into my life when
I was really in a downward spiral
and picked me up and loved me
when I thought no one else in the
world could," Hunt said. "She
told me that she would never
leave me... and that if 'I could not
have you in this life. I would have
you in the next.'"
Little expects Hunt to take on
the ro'le of educator now that he is
a free man. Little said young peo
ple today, especially young black
men. need to hear from someone
who has been where Hunt has
been and seen the things that Hunt
has seen. '
"I think Darryl Hunt is going
to be very helpful to us*' Little
said.
Not angry
The crowd at Emmanuel grew
completely silent when Hunt
finally arrived and spoke. The
crowd was not only eager to hear
what Hunt had to say. but Hant is
so soft-spoken that any chatter
would have made it impossible to
hear him.
, Hunt took time to publicly
and individually thank all those
who had helped keep his cause
alive over the years - the rev
erends. the activists and everyday
folks. "God blessed me with peo
ple (who) kept me strong for the
last 19 years," he said.
Hunt said their support was
always appreciated, but even he
was a little taken aback by the
reception he received last week.
In addition to the rally at
Emmanuel, a support rally spon
taneously sprang up for him out
side of the Forsyth County Jail
when he walked out a free man.
Supporters were joined at both
rallies by every major news
media outlet in the Triad and even
some from beyond the area.
"I have been overwhelmed
since the time I signed the release
papers," Hunt said.
Hunt told supporters that he
held firm to his belief in God and
his innocence during his time
behind bars. At one point in the
early '90s, prosecutors offered
Hunt a plea agreement that would
have set him free, but the agree
ment stipulated that Hunt would
have to admit to the crittie. Some
"in his camp admitted that they
advised him to take the agree
ment, but Hunt refused to take the
blame for a crime he did not com
mit.
"I just could not take it," he
said.
Hunt said he is not angry or
bitter for the years he lost. Anger,
he said, is toxic and counterpro
ductive.
"1 can't remember who exact
ly told me this, but they said, 'If
you are angry, it destroys you
from within," Hunt said. "Injus
tice is hard to deal with itself, but
I want to live, and I don't want to
die from within."
A day earlier, Hunt supporters
were critical of the family of Deb
orah Sykes. Hunt supporters said
the family has wanted someone to
pin the crime on instead of push
ing for real answers. Hunt
expressed no ill will for the fami
ly. He said he wished them a res
. olution and feels their pain.
"Their experience is just as
painful as mine or even more," he
said.
Hunt said he wanted to sit and
watch the sun go down, some
thing so simple that he has not
been allowed fo do for some time.
He said his immediate plans were
to take care of his family and
return to Winston-Salem State
University, where he was study
ing when he was rearrested after
his second trial.
Hunt has to returrtto court on
Feb. 6. At that time, his attorneys
and supporters expect his life sen
tence to be formally vacated.
After' that hearing the Hunt
team will pursue financial com
pensation for Hunt from the state,
Little said.
"That is something that has to
be addressed. You can't take 19
years off this man's life and not
expect to compensate him." Little
said.