March 23, 1964
Sheldon Chappell kneels at his mother’s grave. Credit: Courtesy of Sheldon Chappell
Johnnie Mae Chappell was walking to a store in Jacksonville, Florida, to buy some ice cream for her children when she realized she had dropped her wallet. As she retraced her steps along a road, four white men spotted her, and one of them killed her.
They had been looking for anyone Black to kill following a day of racial unrest. All four men were indicted, but only J.W. Rich, the alleged triggerman, was tried. He was convicted of manslaughter and served only three years behind bars.
Her story is featured at the National Civil Rights Memorial Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. Keith Beauchamp told her story in his television program, “Wanted Justice: Johnnie Mae Chappell.”
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