Young Girl Accidentally Killed by Celebratory Gunfire, 1920

Previously:

Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles

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[April 28, 1920] -

CLAIMS SHOOTING OF GIRL 

OF PULASKI ACCIDENTAL

SOMERSET, Ky., April 27.-- Charles Mize today admitted killing little Grace Kirby, found dead Monday with a bullet wound above the left ear.

Mize claims the girl was killed by accident and that he fired at random with a gun of large caliber while riding a horse.  He did not know the girl was near at the time, he said.

Mize was lodged in jail here on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. [1]

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[April 25, 1920] -

Death Certificate of Lettie C. Kirby. 13 year old daughter of Alex Kirby and Rebeca Taylor Kirby, cause of death "accidental gun shot in left temple."  Date of Death: April 25, 1920. Click to enlarge. [2]

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[November 5, 1920] -

Chas. Mize, charged with killing Lettie Kirby, was fined $100 and given 150 days in jail.  Mize was riding along the road and fired his pistol into a house not knowing anyone was in it and killed the young girl. [3]

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[1]  "Claims Shooting of Girl of Pulaski Accidental." Lexington Herald, Lexington, KY. April 28, 1920. Page 4. Genealogybank.com.

[2] Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1953 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

[3] Excerpt from "Circuit Court." The Somerset Journal, Somerset, KY. November 5, 1920. Retrieved from http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/pulaski/newspapers/sj11_5_1920.txt

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