Tributes flow for death row survivor 'Sunny' Jacobs who died in Galway housefire

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

The founder of Death Penalty Action in America has paid tribute to Florida death row survivor Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs who tragically lost her life in a house fire in Galway.
American-born 'Sunny', (76) and a man in his 30s, understood to be her carer, were pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal fire at a bungalow at Gleann Mac Muireann near Casla in Connamera on Tuesday morning.
It is understood the deceased were the only occupants of the house at the time the blaze broke out.
Gardai and Fire Services were alerted to the fire at around 6.20am on Tuesday and brought it under control. The bodies of Ms Jacobs and the man in his 30s were recovered from inside the property.
In 1976 'Sunny' and her then partner were wrongfully sentenced to death by the Florida courts for the murder of two police men. 'Sunny' was only 28 years of age and the mother of two young children. She was freed after 17 years of wrongful incarceration in 1993.
Now, in a statement issued to The Irish Mirror by Abraham J. Bonowitz, a founder of Death Penalty Action in the USA, said he first met 'Sunny' in 1993 - just months after she was freed from 17 years of wrongful incarceration in Florida.
"I first met Sunny in 1993, just months after she was freed from 17 years of wrongful incarceration in Florida, including five years as the only woman on Florida's death row, after evidence of her innocence vacated her conviction,' Mr Bonowitz said in the statement.
'In the wake of injustice, Sunny used the remainder of her life to work to keep others from enduring wrongful incarceration, to help those freed from wrongful incarceration to heal, and to work to abolish the death penalty in the United States and worldwide.
"It was a great privilege to know Sunny, not only in the work that we shared, but as a true friend.
'One of my greatest honours was to be the person to drive her to visit the memorial to the victims of Flight 759, which crashed near the airport in New Orleans in 1982. We were together at the 2024 Annual Conference of The Innocence Network in New Orleans. It was the first time she was able to visit the site where her parents of blessed memory, Bella and Herbert Jacobs, died.
"Even in her old age, Sunny was constantly working to help others.
'She and her late husband, Irish death row survivor Peter Pringle established 'The Sunny Centre,' an organisation focused on supporting the needs of people freed from wrongful incarceration.
'Our last conversations were about how we can better assist such individuals in their latter years - particularly those who, like Sunny, received no compensation or even an official acknowledgement of their innocence."
'Books, films and stage plays have amplified the voice of Sunny Jacobs, who was a featured character in the play and movie, The Exonerated, originally produced by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. She was portrayed by Susan Sarandon, among many others.
'Sunny's story was first told in film when she was portrayed by Mimi Rogers in the film 'In the Blink of an Eye' directed by her childhood friend, Micki Dickoff, who put her career on hold to help prove Sunny's innocence and also that of her husband, Jesse Tafero.
'Sadly, Tafero's execution was famously botched in 1990 in Florida's electric chair. Sunny's book, Stolen Time: One Woman's Inspiring Story as an Innocent Condemned to Death.
"Much more will be written and said about Sunny Jacobs. I have donated in her memory to 'The Sunny Centre' and I invite others to join me.
'My heart and prayers go out to her daughter, Christina, her son, Eric, to all who knew her personally, all who had the chance to hear her speak or know her story, and all who have been inspired by the example she set in how she lived and used her life to help others,' said Mr Bonowitz.