WANTS PARDON FOR THE BOYS
Lawyer Cooper wants Rawlings Boys Given Freedom
Dispatches from Atlanta to The Times this morning state that a petition for a pardon for Milton, Jesse, and Leonard Rawlings, convicted of the murder of the Carter children in this county four years ago, and who are serving life sentences in the penitentiary, has been addressed to the Governor and was filed with the state prison commission at noon yesterday by Colonel John R. Cooper. Cooper has represented the boys in all stages of their trial, from the commitment up to the appeal for clemency before the Governor.
The petition recalls the murder of the two Carter children, Willie and Carrie Carter, fourteen and twelve years of age, respectively. Their father, who it was claimed instigated the killing, and Alf Moore, a negro who was accessory to it, were hanged for the crime, and these boys were sent up to the penitentiary for life. Milton and Jesse had their sentences of death commuted to life imprisonment the day before they were scheduled to hang.
It was never believed in this section that these boys intended originally to kill the children. The evidence showed that their father had sent them to wipe out the Carter family, this being the story sworn to by Alf Moore and verified by surrounding evidence. It happened that a little dog in the yard attracted the attention of these two children, and they went out to see what it was when both were shot down, the little girl being left dead in the yard while the boy scrambled back into the house and died during the night. The murderers, according to the evidence, remained about the Carter home all night long, trying to get a shot at old man Carter and finally attempting to burn his house. He managed to poke his gun through a crack and fired at them as they ignited the shucks under the house.
With the petition submitted, it has been numerously signed by citizens of Lowndes County and acquaintances of the Rawlings family. The petition was docketed on the commission’s book shortly after noon Thursday and is yet to be set down for a hearing.
Colonel Cooper claims that a special term of court was called to try the indictments and that the boys were tried and convicted within ten days after the alleged crime was committed, while public sentiment was at fever heat and unreasoning.
He further contends that the boys were mere children, not capable of the crime, and that they were convicted on no other evidence than Alf Moore’s testimony. Moore, already a self-confessed murderer, testified under the promise of his life being spared. Cooper asserts that the boys are absolutely innocent of the crime for which they are now serving and appeals for a pardon. He invokes the divine law, arguing that justice has been served—two children were killed, and two individuals have been hanged.
THE RAWLINGS CASE HISTORY
The three Rawlings boys were indicted for the murder of the Carter children in Lowndes County in 1905, with their father, J.G. Rawlings, and Alf Moore, a negro, indicted as accessories. They were all tried and found guilty. J.G. Rawlings and Alf Moore were sentenced to be hanged, while Milton and Jesse received life imprisonment.
Their case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, where the judgment was affirmed. Further appeals to the United States Supreme Court also upheld the Georgia Supreme Court’s judgment. Despite fighting on technicalities, they lost their case repeatedly. Eventually, the state prison commission showed clemency, commuting Milton and Jesse’s sentences to life imprisonment, but J.G. Rawlings and Alf Moore were executed.