List of Birmingham homicides in 1895
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This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 1895. It includes homicide cases occurring within the city limits during the calendar year. Note that not all homicides are ultimately ruled to be murder in courts of law.
Listing
- December 14: Lizzie Durr, 13, was shot to death by Birmingham Police officer J. Nathan Byers while she and two other youngsters were gathering coal before dawn alongside a railroad track. An arrest warrant was sworn out by Durr's older brother. At a preliminary hearing he claimed that she had been stealing from a coal car and leaped down onto him, accidently causing his gun to fire. Annie Sims said that she and Lizzie were running away when she was shot in the back of the head. Large crowds gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church and at the Jefferson County Courthouse to petition for justice. A grand jury found insufficient evidence to charge Byers with a crime. He was suspended from duty for a few days and later reinstated.
See also
References
- Baggett, James L. (February 18, 2021) "Lizzie Durr was 13. Shot to death in Birmingham (AL). What happened next is familiar" The Birmingham Times