Trial of Willis Doxey, Who Killed His Nephew, to Begin March 2, 1925

Doxy Case Up to State. . . Nephew’s Relatives Will Leave Burden of Prosecution on Solicitor’s Shoulders

The prosecution of Willis A. Doxey will be left up to the State when the case comes up for trial in Currituck Superior Court the week of March 2. William Doxey, who was shot by his uncle, W.A. Doxey of Poplar Branch, on his deathbed begged his father not to prosecute his uncle, and there is little possibility that any other people will be sufficiently interested to do so.

The burden of the prosecution will, of course, fall on the shoulders of Walter L. Small, Solicitor of the First Judicial District. Mr. Small is up against a hard fight in the Doxey case. Faced with a clannish sentiment that prevails in favor of the accused man, the Solicitor single-handed will have a job of it, against the battery of the able lawyers that will be employed for the defense.

In the meantime, sentiment on both sides is worked up in Currituck County and 140 different versions of the affair have come of the rumors concerning the case. Opinions are openly expressed. Some contend that Willis Doxey did what he should have done long ago, had he not been such a good man and a good citizen. Others say he wouldn’t have shot his nephew so long as he didn’t find him in his home. While one group condemns the ruthlessness of a boy who would apparently strive to wreck the home of his relative, instead of trying to protect it, other groups admire his sportsmanship, declaring him to be game unto the end, pointing especially to the facts that young Doxey, in his dying statement, spoke highly of his uncle’s wife, and on his deathbed begged his own father to not prosecute the Uncle who had shot him. While some lay stress on Mr. Doxey’s strong love for his wife, others cynically point to the logical conclusion of the marriage of a young girl to a mature man, stressing the point that little else could have been expected of a match consummated from parental authority and a school girl’s inexperience.

The subject will be so thoroly discussed and opinions expressed before March 2 that it will be hard to find a jury when the case comes up for trial, and is expected to consume many days of court.

From the front page of the Elizabeth City Independent, Feb. 20, 1925

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