Judge Joseph Parker Tuesday weighed the extenuating circumstances that led to the knife-wound death of Willie Bright in July and passed an extremely light sentence upon Mary Thompson, common law wife of Bright, who pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Evidence indicate that the couple had been living together for several years, that Bright had a record of violence and had repeatedly beaten the tiny mother of two, who was born with only one hand. On the night of the stabbing she had argued with him about going out with another woman, she found him later, called him out, cursed him, was slapped by Bright and then she stabbed him.
Bright was taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital and given treatment for apparent superficial wounds. An hour after arrival at the hospital Bright died from internal bleeding caused by a nick in his right jugular vein that had been overlooked by the attending physician.
Faced with all of these factors Judge Parker said that the man would probably be alive if he had gotten proper medical care. He gave the woman a 3- to 5-year prison term suspended upon the condition that she remain on probation for a five year period.
From the front page of the Jones County Journal, Trenton, N.C., Aug. 25, 1960
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