Killing of Larry Payne

Larry Payne was a sixteen-year old African American teenager who was killed following a march in support of the Memphis sanitation strike on Thursday, March 28, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.[1] He was the only fatality on that day although the New Pittsburgh Courier reported 60 injured and 276 arrested.[2]

A police officer, Leslie Dean Jones, beats a youth during the violence that erupted on March 28, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Larry Payne, the 16-year-old in the background, was killed by Jones later in the day.

Martin Luther King Jr. called Payne's mother, Lizzie Payne, on the phone to console her after her son's killing by Patrolman Leslie Dean Jones.[3]

Events leading up to Payne's death

Conflicting accounts describe the looting that occurred in tandem with the march on Thursday March 28, 1968 that led to a city-wide curfew and Mayor Loeb calling the Tennessese National Guard. According to multiple witnesses, as Payne emerged from a basement in the Fowler Homes housing development, police officer Leslie Dean Jones pressed the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun into Payne's stomach and fired, killing him.[4] Payne reportedly had his hands up prior to his killing and had asked the officer not to shoot.[5][6] Jones later claimed that Payne was holding a large butcher knife when he emerged from the basement, a statement denied by witnesses to the killing.[7] The Shelby County grand jury did not press charges, and the Department of Justice declared that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Jones when investigating him for civil rights abuses.[8]

Payne's funeral

There was a five-hour wake the day before the funeral on Monday, April 1, 1968.[9] Six hundred attended his funeral at Clayborn Temple on Tuesday, April 2, 1968.[10] Striking sanitation workers, clergy members who supported the strike, and national television representatives were all in attendance, as well as the students and faculty of Mitchell Road High School where Payne was enrolled prior to his death. Rev. B.T. Dumas, pastor of New Philadelphia Baptist Church gave the eulogy entitled "Man Is Like Grass And Is Cut Down in Various Stages of Life." Rev. Dumas made no reference to the unusual circumstances of Payne's death.[10] Payne's mother, Lizzie Mason Payne, had to be led from the church because she was so full of grief. The Washington Post quoted her as saying: "They killed you like a dog."[11]

Events after Payne's death

King planned to visit Payne's mother during his next visit to Memphis, but was killed before the visit could occur.[1] He was assassinated seven days after Payne's killing, on April 4, 1968, when he returned to Memphis in an effort to hold a peaceful march unmarred by looting and violence.

After Payne's death, Lizzie Payne, his mother, moved to Flint, Michigan.[3]

References
  1. "Larry Payne". Civil Rights and Restorative Justice. Northwestern University School of Law. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  2. Ratcliff, Robert M. (April 6, 1968). "Memphis: King's Biggest Gamble – March Was Out of Hand Before It Even Started". New Pittsburgh Courier.
  3. "83 year old mother grieves son's death". Commercial Appeal via Democratic Underground. Gannett. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  4. Watts, Micaela (4 April 2019). "Leslie Dean Jones, Memphis police officer who killed Larry Payne in 1968 sanitation strike, has died". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  5. Watts, Micaela (4 April 2019). "Leslie Dean Jones, Memphis police officer who killed Larry Payne in 1968 sanitation strike, has died". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  6. Perrusquia, Marc (28 March 2018). "Leading up to 6:01: The last 32 hours of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  7. Watts, Micaela (4 April 2019). "Leslie Dean Jones, Memphis police officer who killed Larry Payne in 1968 sanitation strike, has died". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  8. Watts, Micaela (4 April 2019). "Leslie Dean Jones, Memphis police officer who killed Larry Payne in 1968 sanitation strike, has died". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  9. "Probe Killing of Memphis Youth". Chicago Defender (Daily Edition). April 1, 1968.
  10. Reid, McCann (April 2, 1968). "600 Attend Funeral for Young Riot Victim". Chicago Defender (Daily Edition).
  11. "Memphis Riot Victim Buried". The Washington Post and Times-Herald). April 3, 1968.
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