He was preceded in death by his mother Jean, his brother Willie and his grandparents William & Hattie Stroud. He is survived by a sister Doris, several nieces and nephews.∼Activist. Darryl Hunt was arrested in 1984 at the age of 19 for the rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, a 26 year old copywriter for the Winston-Salem Sentinel. Although there was no evidence presented and the prosecution's case depended heavily on one witness who later recanted their testimony, he was convicted of her murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Because he was African American and Sykes was white, his case was said to have defined race relations in Winston-Salem for over 20 years. The Innocence Project and his team of lawyers continued to challenge his conviction. A local alderman championed his case and Maya Angelou showed her support at a rally for him in 1985. In 1989 his conviction was overturned on appeal and prosecutors offered him release from prison and time served in exchange for his entering a guilty plea. He refused the deal, maintaining his innocence, and was convicted again in a second trial. In 1994 DNA evidence cleared him of the rape charge, but his sentence remained in place because prosecutors maintained he was an accomplice to the murder. Over almost 20 years, his case was reviewed by 35 state and federal judges and two governors who were asked to consider clemency. In December 2003, the Winston-Salem Journal published an eight part series reviewing the case. After the stories ran, the State Bureau of Investigation compared the DNA to state and federal databases of convicted felons and a match was made to a felon who had previously been convicted of rape. The man confessed to the crime and admitted he was solely responsible for Sykes' rape and murder. Hunt was exonerated in February 2004 and he received a pardon of innocence from Governor Mike Easley. After his release, he became an advocate for criminal justice reform and founded the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice where he spoke to over 200 conferences, schools, film festivals and religious groups to promote reform. He also founded the Darryl Hunt Freedom Fighters. He served on the board of directors for the N.C. Center for Actual Innocence and worked with the Innocence and Justice Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law. Two books, "Long Time Coming: My Life and the Darryl Hunt Lesson" and "Making Justice Our Business: The Wrongful Conviction of Darryl Hunt and the Work of Faith" were published about this case; and an independent documentary titled "The Trials of Darryl Hunt" was named a Sundance Film Festival selection.