Killing of Aaron Boyd Jr. in Louisiana in 1938

Incident

Case summary

Aaron Boyd Jr., age 38, a longshoreman and WWI veteran, died on June 17, 1938, in a police station cell in the custody of Sergeant Joseph Murphy in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to newspaper accounts, police claimed that he had injured himself from falling several times while trying to flee from unnamed police officers after allegedly robbing and assaulting a streetcar conductor. After an investigation by Captain Edward Smith, Chief of Detectives John Grosch found no excessive force and declined further action.

Victim(s):

Alleged perpetrators/other named individuals: [ ]
Perpetrator group type: police

Date of incident: 1938-06-17
Location: New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Location type: carceral location
Allegation against victim: holding up a street car conductor; resisting arrest

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 - closed
military documents - closed
news articles - closed
Data Fields
To learn more about data fields, refer to the data dictionary.
Cite this Page
Refer to how to cite.