CAST - PAST
A troubled young man with below-average intelligence and a history of run-ins with the law, but none ever involving violence. Prior to his controversial conviction and execution for murder at age 16, which was based on questionable evidence and procedural irregularities, he was the longest serving resident at the Glen Mills School.
Alexander McClay Williams
The 35-year-old wife, mother, and matron at the Glen Mills School, charged with overseeing 48 “Negro boys” aged 11 to 14. On October 3, 1930, her husband, Fred, an abusive and dangerous man, tells police he discovered her body in their bedroom, stabbed with an icepick 47 times.
Vida Robare
The husband of Vida Robare, whose documented history of domestic abuse toward his wife, as well as the documented evidence of his abusive behavior toward Alexander when he stayed at the Robare cottage, is never introduced at trial. After his wife’s murder, Robare abandons his son at the home of relatives in Baltimore, dooming him to a tragic life.
Fred Robare
The first Black attorney in Delaware County, PA. He is assigned as lone defense counsel in Alexander’s case and forced to mount a defense with two weeks’ time and a $10 defense budget. He must face a formidable prosecution team that comes armed with a mountain of tampered evidence, multiple coerced confessions by the defendant, a host of procedural irregularities in their favor, and the full support of the court and community in which the trial takes place. Following Alexander’s conviction and execution, Ridley comes under criticism by Delaware County’s Black community and is haunted for the remainder of his life by the thought that he might have done more to defend his client.
William H. Ridley
A cadre of seasoned white attorneys with seemingly unlimited resources to invest in securing Alexander’s speedy conviction. The Delaware County court system is fully primed to help the prosecution deliver the verdict and the sentence that the community demands.
The Prosecution Team
CAST - PRESENT
Samuel Lemon
Sam Lemon grew up in Media, Pennsylvania. As a child, he heard stories about Alexander’s case from his grandmother, who was the daughter of Alexander’s lawyer, William Ridley. Now a professor, Sam seeks answers as to why this case, one of the few his great-grandfather lost, haunted him for the rest of his life.
A Delaware County attorney who becomes intrigued with the case and agrees to represent Sam and the Williams family pro bono in their search for the truth. He offers the dual perspectives of seasoned prosecutor and defense attorney.
Robert Keller
Vida Robare’s great-niece, who connects with Sam online in 2015. She tells him that her family had a curse placed on it and that she knew all along that Fred Robare was the murderer. Her suspicions are bolstered by Sam’s discovery of records documenting Fred Robare’s abusive behavior toward his wife
and her suing for divorce, in 1921, on grounds of “extreme cruelty.”
Theresa Smithers
Alexander’s sole surviving sibling,
who was a year old when her brother was executed and who recalls that her family, lacking the resources to investigate suspected irregularities surrounding Alexander’s arrest and conviction, never again mentioned the case. Along with her extended family, she joins forces with Sam Lemon and Rob Keller to seek a posthumous pardon for Alexander.
“Miss Susie” Williams Carter
Williams Family
Alexander’s extended family, including Ms. Susie’s daughter Oscie, son Robert, and her niece “Little Oscie,” joins forces with Sam to seek posthumous justice for their Uncle Alexander.
CAST - PRESENT
Celeste Trusty
A passionate advocate for criminal justice reform and racial equity. As the Director of the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, she works tirelessly to combat mass incarceration by providing bail assistance to individuals unable to afford it. Trusty’s work exemplifies a commitment to social justice and empowering marginalized communities. Celeste is from Alexander’s community.
is the first Democrat elected District Attorney of Delaware County, PA. His tenure is marked by proactive measures to enhance public safety and promote fairness in the criminal justice system, including community outreach programs, innovative approaches to addressing substance abuse, and collaboration with law enforcement agencies
to combat violent crime.
Jack Stollsteimer
Unanimously elected by his fellow judges to serve the five-year term as Delaware County’s president judge in 2017. Kelly presided over the third trial for Alexander Mcclay Williams, having to find precedent for the almost 100-year-old case. In June 2022 Kelly returned to the criminal bench and is again
the criminal court’s liaison judge.
Kevin F. Kelly
Joseph M. Marrone
Founder and Managing Partner of Marrone Law Firm, LLC, is leading a Federal lawsuit against Delaware County to seek damagesfor the family of Alexander McClay Williams. Known for winning damages in prominent cases of wrongful incarceration, Marrone has built a reputation for advocating justice through- out the Philadelphia area and beyond. This is the first time his firm is pursuing damages for a case that is nearly 100 years old.
CAST - EXPERTS
Brian Stevenson
A renowned civil rights attorney and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Stevenson has emerged as a leading voice for challenging racial injustice and advocating for criminal justice reform. Stevenson’s work has garnered international recognition. His book Just Mercy was turned into a film in 2019.
District Attorney of Philadelphia. Krasner was one of the first in the US to run as a self-described “progressive prosecutor.”] His controversial mission
as Philly DA is to reform the city’s criminal justice system, including reduced incarceration. His team
has overturned many cases since 2017.
Lawrence Samuel Krasner
Mike M. Lyons
An associate professor and the chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at St. Joseph’s University (SJU). He co-founded The Redemption Project in 2015.
His research and teaching focus on storytelling, civic media, and narratives of crime and incarceration.
Kristine Howard
Was a former child abuse investigator before being elected as the PA State representative whose district is near to Glen Mills. She was an integral part of Governor Wolf’s Task Force to improve Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system following the confirmed abuses at Glen Mills.
LOCATIONS
The county seat and site of both Alexander’s 1931 trial and the hearings almost 100 years later to clear his name. Delaware County is a very white, very conservative county – a profile historically reflected in its court system and in its institutions, such as the Glen Mills School. A critical factor in the pardon ultimately granted to Alexander was the election of the first Democratic Delaware County district attorney since the Civil War.
Media, PA, and Delaware County Courts
Glen Mills School
A reform school founded in 1826 and shut down in 2019 following a Philadelphia Inquirer series documenting the stories of other victims of the school’s abuse, intimidation, coercion, neglect, and failure to provide the education for which it received state funding. Glen Mills provides a backdrop for the institutional abuses visited on young African Americans, particularly those lacking resources or social support.