Ernest Jells

Ernest Jells, 21, was shot and killed by Clarksdale Police Department Lieutenant Henry Petty and Patrolman B.F. Moore Jr. on September 20, 1963. According to contemporaneous local newspaper coverage, Jells had been accused of trying to steal bananas from a grocery store; the store owner's son confronted him and a scuffle followed, during which officers said Jells reached back as though to grab a weapon. No one was ever charged in connection with his death. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division closed the case in 2010, after confirming both officers were deceased.

Clarksdale, MS · Coahoma County

• 1963: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity and the September 20, 1963 date and circumstances, per the DOJ's public case file, drawing on contemporaneous Clarksdale Press Register coverage.
• No one was ever charged in Jells's death; both officers involved were confirmed deceased by the time of the DOJ's 2010 closure, per the same file.

• Whether Jells actually reached for a weapon, as the officers claimed, was never independently confirmed.
• The full circumstances of the confrontation inside the store before Jells was shot were not fully documented beyond the officers' own account.

• U.S. Department of Justice — Notice to Close File
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs