Rev. George Lee

Rev. George W. Lee, 51, a Baptist minister, grocer, and co-founder of the Belzoni NAACP branch, was shot and killed while driving in Belzoni on the night of May 7, 1955. Lee was the first Black resident to register to vote in Humphreys County since Reconstruction, and had helped register roughly 90 other Black voters despite repeated threats. His car crashed after gunmen in a passing car fired into it; he died shortly after reaching a hospital. The local sheriff publicly claimed the lead pellets found in Lee's jaw were dental fillings; FBI testing later confirmed they were buckshot. No one was ever prosecuted. FBI files released in 2000 named two White Citizens' Council members, Peck Ray and Joe David Watson Sr., as suspects; both had died in the 1970s.

Belzoni, MS · Humphreys County

• 1955: 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, role, and the May 7, 1955 date and circumstances, per the DOJ's public case file.
• FBI files released in 2000 named two suspects, both reported deceased, per public reporting on those files.

• No one was ever charged or convicted.
• The local district attorney's specific reasons for declining to prosecute were not fully documented publicly.

• U.S. Department of Justice — Civil Rights Division case page
• Southern Poverty Law Center — case summary
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs