Deputy Sheriff Charles Lee Sims

Charles Lee Sims

Deputy Sheriff Charles Sims was shot and killed after responding to a domestic dispute involving a man and his wife.

While inside the couples home the man shot him in the head with a shotgun. The suspect was apprehended six weeks later in Albion, Michigan. Because of so many lynchings in Alabama, it took more than a month to convince Michigan Governor Wilbur M. Brucker to allow his return to Butler County.

On December 11th, 1931, the suspect was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life. He died in prison on June 6th, 1933.