James Lackey (the driver), Cecil Myers and Joseph Sims were arrested. Myers and Sims were charged with murder after Lackey’s confession. But by the time he got to the courtroom, Lackey’s story was deemed unbelievable and an all-white male jury acquitted the three men.
But Myers and Sims, were then charged with violating the civil rights of the black soldiers and they both served six years in prison. Lt. Colonel Lemuel Penn was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A year after his death, Penn’s wife, Georgia, died from complications related to lupus. The couple had three children.
Little Known Black History Fact: Murder in Athens, Georgia was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
