Asheville, June 17—George Ross Pou, superintendent of the state prison, is expected to arrive here Friday to investigate the death Tuesday night of William A. George, a 28-year-old negro convict at Asheville state prison camp, who was shot by a guard when he made a break for freedom.
F.G. Baker, head of the prison camp, was in receipt of a telegram from Superintendent Pou in which the latter stated he will likely arrive here Friday morning. Meanwhile the state superintendent advised Mr. Baker that he was endeavoring to communicate with the dead man’s relatives in Craven County to see if they wished to claim the body. Mr. Baker had the body embalmed and it was being held at an Asheville undertaking establishment pending instructions from the superintendent.
George was serving a 30-year sentence for murder following his conviction last January in Craven County. He had the reputation among prison guards of being a “bad” character, and it was said that he declared he would never serve his sentence.
The prisoner tried to escape late on Tuesday afternoon when he was being returned to the barracks from a rock quarry near Asheville. When he failed to halt at the command of the guards one of them fired on him. A buck shot struck the negro in the back of the head near the base of the brain and he died an hour ago.
It is Superintendent Pou’s custom to make a personal investigation of the death or injury of prisoners under his supervision. According to Associated Press dispatches from Raleigh he will inspect the seven camps where state convicts ae confined while he is in Western North Carolina.
From the front page of the Ruralite, Sylva, N.C., Tuesday, June 22, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068754/1926-06-22/ed-1/seq-1/
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