Randolph Thomas, age 25, a Higgins Industries employee and WWII veteran, died in 1947, killed by Louisiana State Police in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Randolph was with his father Eugene Thomas and brother Napoleon Thomas when he was accused of robbing at gunpoint a store owned by Dennis Rotman. After the three left the store, they were intercepted on Highway 51 by state police and a white mob. Randolph was shot and his brother and father were beaten and taken to jail, where they were eventually charged with a separate robbery at a filling station. The NAACP sought to have those charges dropped.

Randolph Thomas