Why does this story sound so familiar? Oh, that’s right.
The victim this time, Lawrence E. “Shine” Thornton of Greenville, Miss., 87, was a local celebrity, famous for his hot tamales. Now he is the latest casualty in what LU contributor Colin Flaherty observes is a national epidemic of black-on-white violence.
Having served his country on a minesweeper in the Pacific theater during World War II, Thornton returned home to work for a local electric company and eventually opened a liquor store.
According to Greenville police, he was accosted by the four teens in his own driveway on Oct. 18. They demanded money. After seizing the aging man’s wallet, they shoved him to the ground. During the fall, he sustained injuries to the head. He succumbed two days later at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
CNSNews notes that four teenage suspects are Terrance Morgan and Edward Johnson, both 19, and Leslie Litt and Geblonski Murray, both 18. They are being charged with capital murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery.
