Willie G. Horner
Willie G. Horner was a 16-year-old Black boy and one of 21 boys who died in a dormitory fire at the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School, a state youth facility on the site now known as the Wrightsville Unit, on the night of March 5, 1959. Sources say the boys were locked in their dormitory when the fire started, and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports that the doors were reportedly locked from the outside. KATV reports that the fire broke out mysteriously, and the Arkansas Department of Correction dedicated a memorial in April 2019 that lists each boy's name. His sisters, Malvestin Locke and Evergene Avent, attended the dedication, and Avent said the pain of losing her brother still hurts. He is listed among the victims buried at Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (neglect alleged). Accounts say the dormitory doors were locked from the outside as the fire broke out, and the cause of the fire was not established.
Reported by: news reports of the March 5, 1959 dormitory fire (reporters).