Ron Wallis is a black ex-slave – a decent, kind and honest man. One day, the deputy sheriff finds him crying and holding the dead body of a 12-year-old white boy – the son of the richest, most influential man in town. Wallis is arrested for the crime, and the townspeople think he’s guilty, despite his continued protests of innocence. Only the deputy sheriff believes Wallis might be innocent and tries to help him receive justice, against all odds.