From death row to freedom: Why story of Kirk Bloodsworth’s DNA exoneration still resonates

Delmarva Now, April 6, 2018

by Rose Velasquez
******

After he was sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit, the story of a Maryland man exonerated by DNA evidence has reached readers across the country.

Now, Eastern Shore author Tim Junkin’s book, “Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA,” is being recognized by Maryland Humanities as the One Maryland One Book selection for 2018.

First published in 2004, the book chronicles Kirk Bloodsworth’s arrest and conviction for the 1984 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl and his eventual exoneration based on DNA evidence.

A committee that includes librarians, educators and authors selected the novel based on a list of 209 suggestions from readers statewide with this year’s theme of justice. Other finalists were Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” and Jesmyn Ward’s “Sing, Unburied Sing.”

Delmarva Now caught up with Junkin to discuss Bloodsworth’s story and its continued impact in Maryland and beyond.

Read the Q&A here.