Biography
Frank Lee Smith was sentenced to death in Florida for a murder he did not commit. He died in custody on January 30, 2000, and DNA testing led to his posthumous exoneration later that year.
Smith was arrested on April 29, 1985, in the investigation of the death of eight-year-old Shandra Whitehead in Fort Lauderdale. He denied committing the crime. The prosecution relied on witness identifications and a disputed statement to investigators. In 1986, he was convicted and received a death sentence on the murder count, with life sentences on other counts.
Smith died of pancreatic cancer on January 30, 2000, while still incarcerated. Subsequent DNA testing excluded him and matched Eddie Lee Mosley. On December 15, 2000, Smith’s convictions were vacated and the charges dismissed. His exoneration was posthumous; he was never released from this imprisonment.
