killing in ferriday, louisiana

There have been allegations of witness intimidation, evidence tampering, and involvement by local law enforcement. The FBI opened a full investigation into his murder due to its civil rights implications, as Jackson was treasurer of the local chapter of the NAACP. Ku Klux Klan (KKK) activity was exceptionally high during the Civil Rights era. The following day Morris's shop was attacked. The FBI concluded the investigation in 2016 when investigators determined there was insufficient evidence to charge any individual with any federal crimes; furthermore, important witnesses, suspects, and informants were dead. These men had long been outraged by one horrid memory the 1964 arson murder of Ferriday shoe shop owner Frank Morris. They were identified as 65-year-old Mark Clark and 49-year-old Donna R. Clark, both of Ferriday. COREs main task was to test whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were being implemented, and for this their workers suffered in Ferriday. [according to whom?] He was able to escape the shop but sustained burns on 100% of his body. [2] This witness also received death threats, and his home was fired upon on multiple occasions. In 2007, Ridgen published a documentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that led to the federal trial and conviction of Seale, for the 43-year-old murder of African-Americans Henry Hezekiah and Charles Eddie Moore, two 19-year-olds from the Meadville, Miss., area. The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office was called to the home at around 8:47 a.m. that morning, he said. Part 1:A half-century ago in Jonesboro, armed black men fought back. NATCHEZ, Miss. Mr. McCrays zeal for education, infectious smile, gentle personality, fashion sense, and love for children will be missed by all of us at Natchez-Adams School District. Theriot said he used a handgun stolen from his father, Keith Theriot, and that it was the weapon recovered after he was arrested, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said at a news conference Tuesday. The suspects then drove the body to an old food plant, where they hid it under plywood and garbage. "We don't really know what the motive is," Ard said. Donnie. Police investigating Labor Day homicide in Ferriday. The 2020 crime rate in Ferriday, LA is 192 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 1.3 times smaller than the U.S. average. Our effort here, as it is everywhere, is to try and uncover the truth. In his first year of teaching at Morgantown, Mr. McCray was named the 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year. Beloved Mississippi school bus driver killed during crash with 18-wheeler, Eleven players with Mississippi ties selected in 2023 NFL Draft, Truck possibly connected to Hinds County jail escape found in Newton County, Paraplegic fisherman speaks to Beulah Baptist Church, Belhaven football puts a smile on the face of little girl, City of Byram awarded thousands of state dollars for infrastructure projects, Request a First Alert Weather School Visit, Advertising Non-Discrimination Certification. When the group began to phase out in Ferriday and the other towns by 1966, the FBI stopped keeping close tabs on the Deacons. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [2] In 2008, the FBI, through local media, informed the public that they were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the Morris case. Natchez Democrat. Courtesy of the Concordia Sentinel and William Brown The sheriff's office says the incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide and that there . Every murder is a senseless murder and this one certainly fits those criteria. Davis furnished the bureau a list of Ferriday Deacons, and he identified former Harlem Globetrotter Johnny Lloyd, who was a four-sport coach at the local black school Sevier High, as a Deacon. When Lewis was released after serving two weeks, Whatley and Antonne Duncan were part of a Deacon team organized to get him home safely. Justice may finally be served, thanks to the reporting of Stanley Nelson of the weekly Concordia Sentinel. Once their mission was complete, members quietly returned to their modest lives. Nelson is a member of the Civil Rights Cold Case Project, a group of journalists, filmmakers, law schools and other organizations created in 2008 by Paperny Films in Canada and the Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, Calif. With the help of FBI documents Nelson received through Freedom of Information requests and from the Syracuse College of Law Cold Case Justice Initiative, and extensive interviews with those who knew Morris or about the case, he was able to piece together the story, ultimately naming a person suspected of being involved: Arthur Leonard Spencer, 71, of Rayville, La. "By the time the neighbors called 911, the incident in Ascension was already happening," Ard said. We know that [Morris] was the victim of a brutal murder and we want to figure out who did it and we want to figure out why they did it," Tom Perez, assistant attorney general who runs the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, said in an interview last week. For years, David Whatley has wondered how men can be so motivated by hate. [2] The FBI investigators believed that Morris knew his attackers, but was unwilling to divulge their identities. It was kind of a barbershop-type of thing where you sit around, you talk about what has happened, who did this and who did that and what to expect next, Whatley recalled. In three interviews conducted by FBI investigators, Morris stated that "he saw a man pouring gasoline around the place [] another man had a shotgun and told him 'to get back in there, nigger'". Lewis raced outside with a shotgun. We were able to get a dying declaration from the dad before he expired, Webre said. A 20-year-old male and 26-year-old female were killed by apparent gunshot wounds. At approximately noon Sunday, Grant Dunbar, 24, was found dead at a residence in the area of Fifth Street and Georgia Avenue in Ferriday, said Ferriday Police Chief Sam King. The preliminary investigation concluded that Morris had not been involved in any racially motivated activities. He said anyone who wants to resolve racial injustices and divisions should do so legally, rather than violently. [5] Jackson had recently been promoted to a position never before held by an African American. FERRIDAY, La. Law officials said deputies responded to a report of a. The SDG regularly committed arson, bombings, and murder. I hate it for him and his family. Police say the couple was at the woman's mother house at the time. The group killed an African American man, Frank Morris, by arson in Ferriday, Louisiana, and is suspected in two car bombings of NAACP leaders in Natchez, Mississippi, George Metcalfe and Wharlest Jackson. [2] During this investigation, the FBI re-interviewed the living witnesses who had first-hand information about the arson, as well as "family members, business owners and neighbors in the vicinity of the shoe shop, law enforcement officers, community members, and former KKK members". DOJ names suspects; closes 1964 case, "Americas | US man in 1964 race attack charge", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silver_Dollar_Group&oldid=1151221382, Racially motivated violence against African Americans, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 22 April 2023, at 17:09. McCray drove the suspects to a location around Bayou Drive in Ferriday, where the suspects pulled out a gun and shot him. So when there was a problem, there was a way of communicating to them what was going on.. It was higher than in 73.6% U.S. cities. If they held somebody in there that actually hadnt done anything but was falsely accused, we would support them by showing up in court., More:Here are 19 of the most influential civil rights leaders of today. Whatley also was at a great risk for Klan attacks because CORE workers were housed in his grandmothers home, where he also lived. Frank Morris (in the apron and visor) is seen standing in front of his shoe shop in Ferriday, La., in the 1950s. Luckily, only the detonator exploded, not the bomb itself, sparing the family from tragedy. Officials had said that Theriot was believed to have been Summers boyfriend, but her family strongly denies that they were dating. "We just know what he did. The Deacons believed that arming themselves was the only way to hold off the Klan and protect their homes, neighborhoods and the white and black civil rights workers who came from across the country to help achieve equality. Cold Case: James Ford Seale: A sheriff's election, nine deaths and a silver dollar, Cold Case: Who killed Joseph Edwards? . Come nightfall, hed study his lessons by a spotlight illuminating his grandmothers lawn while keeping watch for violent Klansmen enraged over his involvement in the civil rights movement. No charges have been brought despite three FBI investigations. In an interview with Nelson, Spencer denies those allegations. In addition to each member owning his own weapon, the agent wrote, the unit allegedly possessed three semi-automatic carbines and two walkie-talkies used when patrolling. Later, he was transported to the parish courthouse jail in Vidalia. The group is also suspected in the disappearance . However, Poisott was eliminated as a potential witness due to his erratic amphetamine use and difficulties differentiating between personal knowledge and hearsay. The suspects are identified as Jimmy ONeal Lewis and Cedric Tennessee. Looking for something special to get your mom for Mothers Day? [2] The informant, fearing for his life, did not share this information with the FBI until two years after the arson. FERRIDAY, La. No one was ever arrested for the . On May 20, 2005, the decomposed body of 28-year-old Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis was fished out of a canal on the outskirts of Jennings, in the Jefferson Davis Parish of southwest Louisiana. "We've got a better picture on how this happened. Part 3:In Homer, the Deacons defied Willie Rainachs segregation. The suspect had been living with the Ernest family for a couple of weeks before the killings, Ard has said. According to investigators, on the night of the murder Frederick McCray Jr. gave a ride to the two suspects. Despite the damage the bomb caused to his home and the threat it posed to his family, Lewis was handcuffed by Ferriday police and charged with aggravated assault, according to FBI and CORE documents. Violent Klansmen had long been embedded with corrupt cops, some of whom wore robes themselves. Klansmen took advantage of this, throwing a bomb just outside Whatleys bedroom window. He was killed when the shop burned down in 1964. The sheriff said Theriot is cooperating with the investigation. [2] All four men were questioned and denied any involvement in the arson and murder. We worked into the night (Sunday). He had previously dedicated songs to white women on his radio show and would lean into their cars and occasionally sit in their passenger seats. Jonesboro Deacon and evangelist preacher Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick told the FBI they chose to call the group the Deacons because that indicated it was for the good of all people. The City of Ferriday hit a dead end with the case, and the sheriff's Department expressed no interest in taking it over.[6]. "So, this is a monster.". Born in Jonesboro before spreading most notably to Bogalusa, Homer and Ferriday, the Deacons main purpose was to fight fire with fire and to protect their communities. Ferriday Police investigating suspected murder-suicide, West Monroe man arrested after allegedly raping adopted daughter, Monroe duo arrested for alleged sex trafficking of minor, 10-year-old shot during argument, Marion man arrested, 2 Winnfield residents arrested following death of 3 year old, One lucky winner in Arkansas is about to become $2.338M richer, La. His father, Sullivan, operated a shoe shop in Natchez, Mississippi. Wed walk nights with rifles on our shoulders like you would see in some foreign countries, Whatley said. His daily tasks included repairing shoes and saddles, selling jewellery, hats, and clothing, and dyeing purses. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Morris opened the front door of the shop, where he was met by two men in their thirties, one of whom was armed with a shotgun. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 2021 KNOE. Harp described Morris as an alcoholic and had two confrontations with him during 19631965, as well as a small argument outside of the courthouse. As a Junior Deacon, he and other members were vigilant and on call when the older Deacons needed them. Ferriday Police are investigating a suspected murder-suicide that happened Wednesday afternoon. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. No subscription required to play. Ard has said that Theriot left the Ernests' home in Livingston Parish in Billy Ernests pickup truck on the morning of the killings and that he was in the same vehicle when he was arrested in Virginia. There were two children, ages 1 and 7, in the Ernests home when the killing occurred, but they were unharmed and eventually went to a neighbors home for help, Ard said.

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