Atlanta Daily World

FOUR WHITE YOUTHS CHARGED WITH KILLING 11 YEAR OLD BOY IN DALTON SCARE TRY

Tommy Dwight Dies After Being Shot At Fish Fry

DALTON, Ga. (UPI)-Police filed murder charges Monday against four white youths accused of killing an 11-year-old Negro boy with shots intended to "scare" a group of Negroes.

Sheriff Donald McArthur said the boys claimed the group threatened them when they drove into a yard driveway to turn their car around last Friday night. It was the scene of a fish fry.

The boys returned shortly after midnight with two 12-gauge, single-barreled shot guns from their home and fired into the air "just to scare them," they told McArthur.

On learning later Saturday that the boy, Tommy Dwight, had died of a shotgun blast he received at the scene, the boys surrendered voluntarily and submitted their part in the altercation, McArthur said.

The youths were listed as Leroy Gentry, 22; Kermit Pritchett Jr., 18; Herschel Elkins, 18; and Billy Joe Rolen, 17. They were held without bond for grand jury action.

McArthur quoted the youths as saying they found themselves on a dead-end street and were forced to use the driveway for turning around.

A number of people were gathered in the yard for one of the numerous outdoor fish fries the people hold, partly to sell fish sandwiches to passersby and partly as social events, McArthur said.

The youths said one of the men brandished a knife and one said he had to roll up the car window to avoid being slugged by another.