Willie Edwards Jr.
Birth date:
November 13, 1932
Death date:
January 23, 1957
Age at Death:
24
About
Willie Edwards Jr. was a father of two girls and was also married to his wife. His wife was pregnant at the time that he was killed and she later gave birth to a baby boy. He lived in Montgomery, Alabama and was working as a truck driver for Winn Dixie.
Willie had picked up an extra shift at his job because another driver had called in sick. Four white men in the Ku Klux Klan had heard that a black man had smiled at a white women. The man was the sick driver but Willie had picked up his shift but the four men didn't know that. They beat Willie and drove him to the middle of Tyler Goodwin Bridge. At the bridge they held up a gun at him and forced him to jump off the bridge resulting in him falling 125 ft and dying. Three months later his body was discovered on the shore of the river.
Was justice served?
No justice was served, 19 years after his murder the case was reopened and four men were convicted, one testified and confirmed the men who participated in the murder. The men were dismissed and no charges were filed because there was "no evidence" that the jump killed Willie. The case was then re-opened again in 1997 and evidence was found that jumping was the cause of death but the grand jury declined indicting someone. As of 1999 justice has not been served.