The Worth of A Five Year Old's Life? - $500.00 And A Year In Prison

We often hear the question, what is the monetary value of a life? Well according to a 1957 Floyd County, Kentucky jury - the value of the life of a five-year-old boy was not worth a lot - just $500 and a year in prison.

The story began on March 23, 1957, on Little Mud Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky. There, Herbert Salisbury and Kelly Hamilton, two adult males, got into a fist fight. The story, as told to officials, Salisbury hit Hamilton, knocking him into five-year-old Garnie V.  Hunter (also have seen his name as Garney B Hunter in some newspaper reports.) The impact knocked the child down an embankment. As he was rolling down the embankment, he struck a broken fruit jar, cutting his jugular vein. The boy bled to death in less than 20 minutes.

Headline from the Floyd County Times, Prestonsburg, KY, March 28, 1957

According to the Floyd County Times dated March 28, 1957, upon hearing of the tragedy, Sheriff Gormon Collins dispatched five carloads of officers to the Trace Branch of Little Mud Creek. The officers arrested Hamilton and Salisbury, along with 25 others that were present. The 25, one of which was a woman, were arrested on charges of drunkenness.

Hamilton and Salisbury waived examining trials and were charged with Manslaughter and taken to jail on a $5,000.00 bond. 

In September 1957, Herbert Salisbury was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $500.00.  In January 1958, Hamilton was acquitted of the charge.

A child lost his life, and the penalty was a mere $500 and a year in prison. 

Little Garnie was the son of Walker and Ruthie Hunter and at the time was survived by ten siblings.   His funeral was held Tuesday, March 26, 1957, at the Regular Baptist Church at Blue Moon (Floyd County), KY. He was laid to rest in the Williams Cemetery at Blue Moon.  I tried to find him on Find-A-Grave but I could not find him, nor could I find a Williams Cemetery at Blue Moon. I did find that there are ten Williams Cemeteries in Floyd County, so I'm unsure which one in which he is buried.

Such a tragedy - a young life cut short by the foolish sinful acts of adults.

Death Certificate for Garnie. Notice the cause of death oddly says "knife wound."