Died in custody
Banjo Peavy
Banjo Peavy, a Black man, was held in the custody of the Houston County sheriff in Fort Valley, Georgia, awaiting transportation, when a mob overpowered the officers and a guard on June 8, 1903. According to the Savannah Morning News, the mob took him to a grove within the town limits, hanged him and fired hundreds of bullets into his body. The paper reported that the officers offered little determined resistance, as they were greatly outnumbered, and that older citizens deplored the killing. The article gives no further account of who the mob members were or whether anyone was charged.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched
Reported by: news reports.