Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs, the American woman who spent 16 years in prison, five of them on death row, for a crime she didn’t commit, has been named as one of the victims of a fatal house fire in Casla, Co Galway, on Tuesday, June 3.
The fire broke out in her home in Gleann Mhic Mhuireann in the early hours of Tuesday, June 3. A man in his 30s, Kevin Kelly, who was believed to be Jacobs’ carer, also died.
Gardaí and emergency services were alerted at around 6:20am. Despite efforts to control the blaze, both Jacobs and the man were found dead inside. Post-mortem examinations are being carried out at University Hospital Galway.
Gardaí have launched a technical investigation and are appealing for witnesses.
A life marked by injustice and advocacy
Jacobs’s story became a global symbol of wrongful conviction. In 1976, she and her partner, Jesse Tafero, were arrested after two police officers were shot during a routine stop in Florida. Although there was no physical evidence linking Jacobs to the crime, no gunpowder residue on her hands, she was convicted largely on the testimony of a co-defendant, Walter Rhodes, who later admitted he fired the fatal shots.
Jacobs’ death sentence was commuted in 1981, and she was released in 1992 after her conviction was overturned. By then, Tafero had been executed, and Rhodes’s confession had come to light. Jacobs later recalled entering prison as “a mother, a daughter and a wife,” and emerging “a grandmother, an orphan and a widow.”
After her release, Jacobs became a prominent voice against the death penalty. She authored the memoir Stolen Time, was portrayed in the film The Exonerated, and travelled widely as a speaker.
In 1998, she met Peter Pringle, an Irish man also wrongfully convicted of murder. He was acquitted in 1995. They married in 2013 and settled in Connemara, founding the Sunny Healing Centre to support exonerees. Pringle died in 2022.
Tributes to a 'tireless advocate'
Tributes have poured in for Jacobs, remembered as a compassionate and determined advocate for justice. Irish author and podcaster Ruairí McKiernan, a close friend, described her as a “warm, generous soul” who “never stopped giving".
"Right until the end, and with very little means, Sunny, at age 77, worked tirelessly: daily international phone calls, Zoom meetings, talks, podcasts, media and events, including fundraising for the Sunny Foundation in the US. She never stopped giving, and in all of this, she kept gratitude at the heart of her practice," wrote McKiernan.
Appeal for information
Gardaí are continuing their investigation and ask anyone with information to contact Clifden Garda Station at 095 22500, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
