Woodrow Wilson Daniel
Woodrow Wilson Daniel, 37, was a Black man whom many people in Water Valley remembered as a grocery delivery boy and a dependable worker for both Black and white residents. He died in June 1957, nine days after he was beaten in the Yalobusha County jail in Mississippi, according to trial testimony. Witnesses testified that Sheriff J. G. Treloar struck him with a club, and a physician testified that he died of a brain hemorrhage. A grand jury indicted the sheriff for manslaughter, but a jury found him not guilty after 26 minutes.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff. A physician testified at trial that he died of a brain hemorrhage, and witnesses testified that Sheriff J. G. Treloar struck him with a club; a grand jury indicted the sheriff for manslaughter, and a jury found him not guilty.
Reported by: grand jury indictment; trial testimony of a physician; witnesses at the trial.