Killing of Riley Brice in Georgia in 1953

Incident

Case summary

Riley Brice, age 54, a plumber and WWI veteran, died in 1953 in a jail cell in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia. Bruce was accused of stealing from a grocery store. He was detained by police officer L.G. Bell, who was shopping in the store at the time, and arrested by detectives J.A. Snellgrove and S.W. Brown and taken to jail. He was later found by patrolman C.T. Jones hanging in his cell. There was no investigation. An essay on this case, researched and authored by a CRRJ student, is available on request.

Victim(s):

Riley Brice


Alleged perpetrators/other named individuals:

L. G. Bell

S. W. Brown

C. T. Jones

J. A. Snellgrove

Perpetrator group type: police

Date of incident: 1953-12-16
Location: Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia
Location type: carceral location
Allegation against victim: stealing $1.47 worth of steak from Big Apple Supermarket at 900 Broadway

Coroner process
Coroner/inquest: yes
Finding of no legal responsibility: yes

Criminal process
Arrest: [ ]
Charge/indictment/information: [ ]
Grand jury: [ ]
Trial: [ ]
Conviction: [ ]
Sentence: [ ]


Document(s):
advocacy group resources
census records - closed
death certificates
military documents - closed
news articles - closed
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