Willie Lephart
Willie Lephart, also recorded as William Leaphart, was a Black man held in the Lexington jail in Lexington, South Carolina, in early May 1890. According to Sheriff G. S. Drafts's telegram to the governor, a mob broke down the door to the sheriff's quarters, took the keys from him by force, opened the jail and shot Lephart several times. A witness account in the press likewise said the men went straight to his cell and shot him there. Sources give the date as either May 4 or May 5, 1890, and the coroner impaneled a jury to view the body.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Sheriff Drafts telegraphed the governor that a posse took the keys from him by force and shot him in the jail, and a witness said the men went straight to the cell and shot him.
Reported by: Sheriff G. S. Drafts of Lexington (the agency that held him); a witness.