Died in jail or a lockup
Richard May
Richard May was held in the Owensboro, Kentucky, jail. A news dispatch reported that before daylight on July 14, 1884, a masked mob of about 100 men attacked the building, forced the jailer and his wife to give up the cell keys, took May from his cell, and hanged him from a tree in the courthouse yard. The Breckenridge News put the crowd at an estimated 150 to 200 men and said the jailer refused to surrender the keys and was killed while defending the building. A Delaware newspaper report said the mob that lynched May also killed Sheriff William J. Lucas, while the news dispatch said Lucas was shot during the attack and died the next morning.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody