Raymond Bird
Raymond Bird, a 31-year-old Black man, had been held in the county jail at Wytheville, Virginia, for about a week. According to an Associated Press report, about fifty masked men broke into the jail in the early hours of August 15, 1926, overpowered the jailer, and took him from the building. The report says he was shot in the head, his body was dragged behind an automobile and hanged from a tree, and it was riddled with bullets. The jailer said the men roughly handled him, and a special grand jury was later convened to investigate the killing.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob of about fifty men broke into the Wytheville, Virginia jail, overpowered the jailer, took the keys, and shot Raymond Bird, according to the Associated Press report reprinted by the Richmond Planet, which condemned the killing and asked that the jailer's conduct be investigated.
Reported by: Associated Press (reporters); Richmond Planet (reporters); the jailer.