Kirk Bloodsworth
Kirk Bloodsworth
spent eight years, ten months, and nineteen days in prison, two years on death row for a crime he did not commit.
“I remember people in the courtroom calling me a child killer. That hurt the most, you know? I’d never hurt a child. But they branded me this, and it stuck too for a long, long time. Even 10 years I got out people were still calling me a child killer. There are air vents in the prison, and I could hear the cat calls coming from the air vents. ‘Kirk... Kirk... We’re gonna get you Kirk. We’re gonna do to you what you did to that little girl.’ Every day, every day, for the longest kind of time. And that was my life. all the time. And it continued even in the courtroom, you know. So when the gavel came down on my life after a two week trial, the courtroom erupted in applause. ‘Give him the gas and kill his ass’ they said. Both trials, same thing. They partied until four o’clock in the morning to my execution. I was scared to death, I’m not going to lie to you. Thank God for DNA though. Yeah. DNA, man. Saved my life.”
While working in the prison library, Kirk read about a new breakthrough—DNA fingerprinting. In 1992, he lobbied successfully for its use on his case. The tests established Kirk’s innocence. He was released in June 1993 and fully pardoned in 1994. His was the first capital case to be exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence.
Since his exoneration, Kirk has devoted himself to abolishing the death penalty and addressing wrongful convictions. He is a leader in the movement for criminal justice reform, and the mutual support and camaraderie of his fellow exonerees is the beating heart for his work. He was a member of Witness to Innocence since its inception and served in several board and staff roles before his current role as Executive Director. After teaching himself the art of silversmithing, Kirk created signature “exoneree” and “death row exoneree” 28g sterling silver rings, which he has gifted to more than 200 exonerees to date. He currently serves on the board of the Innocence Network.
“I remember people in the courtroom calling me a child killer. That hurt the most, you know? I’d never hurt a child. But they branded me this, and it stuck too for a long, long time. Even 10 years I got out people were still calling me a child killer. There are air vents in the prison, and I could hear the cat calls coming from the air vents. ‘Kirk... Kirk... We’re gonna get you Kirk. We’re gonna do to you what you did to that little girl.’ Every day, every day, for the longest kind of time. And that was my life. all the time. And it continued even in the courtroom, you know. So when the gavel came down on my life after a two week trial, the courtroom erupted in applause. ‘Give him the gas and kill his ass’ they said. Both trials, same thing. They partied until four o’clock in the morning to my execution. I was scared to death, I’m not going to lie to you. Thank God for DNA though. Yeah. DNA, man. Saved my life.”
While working in the prison library, Kirk read about a new breakthrough—DNA fingerprinting. In 1992, he lobbied successfully for its use on his case. The tests established Kirk’s innocence. He was released in June 1993 and fully pardoned in 1994. His was the first capital case to be exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence.
Since his exoneration, Kirk has devoted himself to abolishing the death penalty and addressing wrongful convictions. He is a leader in the movement for criminal justice reform, and the mutual support and camaraderie of his fellow exonerees is the beating heart for his work. He was a member of Witness to Innocence since its inception and served in several board and staff roles before his current role as Executive Director. After teaching himself the art of silversmithing, Kirk created signature “exoneree” and “death row exoneree” 28g sterling silver rings, which he has gifted to more than 200 exonerees to date. He currently serves on the board of the Innocence Network.