Killing of Jesse Jefferson in Georgia in 1948

Incident

Case summary

Jesse Jefferson, 52, a tenant farmer, was killed in 1948 by a group of white men including A. G. Wilder, Jerry Thomas and John Hobbs in Butts County, Georgia. Jefferson and the men had reportedly got into a dispute when they claimed he failed to pull his wagon to the side of the road to permit their car to pass. When Jefferson got home he gathered his family and went to a neighbor's house. Shortly thereafter, Jefferson was shot and killed when the men fired into the neighbor’s house. The three shooters were arrested. Charges against John Hobbs were dropped. Wilder and Thomas were charged with voluntary manslaughter but were acquitted.

Victim(s):

Jesse Jefferson


Alleged perpetrators/other named individuals:

John Henry Hobbs

Jerry Thomas

A. B. Wilder

Perpetrator group type: [ ]

Date of incident: 1948-06-12
Location: Butts County, Georgia
Location type: private space - domestic
Allegation against victim: being involved in a traffic altercation

Coroner process
Coroner/inquest: [ ]
Finding of no legal responsibility: [ ]

Criminal process
Arrest: yes
Charge/indictment/information: [ ]
Grand jury: yes
Trial: [ ]
Conviction: no
Sentence: [ ]

FBI case ID:

Atlanta 44-262

DOJ case ID:

144-19N-52

144-19M-52


Document(s):
death certificates
federal agency records
news articles - closed
Data Fields
To learn more about data fields, refer to the data dictionary.
Cite this Page
Refer to how to cite.