Mary Turner - Lynching

Lynching

Smith's death was followed by a week-long mob-driven manhunt in which at least 13 people were killed. Among those whom the mob killed was another black man, Hayes Turner, who was seized from custody after his arrest on the morning of 18 May 1918 and lynched. Distraught, his eight-month pregnant wife Mary denied that her husband had been involved in Smith's killing, publicly opposed her husband's murder, and threatened to have members of the mob arrested. The mob then turned against her, determined to "teach her a lesson".

Although she fled when she learned of the mob's intent, she was nevertheless captured at noon on 19 May. The mob of several hundred brought her to Folsom Bridge over Little River, which separates Brooks and Lowndes counties. The mob then tied her ankles, hung her upside down from a tree, doused her in gasoline and motor oil and set her on fire.

While Turner was still alive, a member of the mob split her abdomen open with a knife. Her unborn child fell on the ground, where it gave a cry before it was stomped on and crushed. Finally, Turner's body was riddled with hundreds of bullets. Mary Turner and her child were cut down and buried near the tree, with a whiskey bottle marking the grave.