Yes, I will backtrack and try to find the details of the murder.
The Caddo Herald
September 16, 1921
Under 16 Years and Charged with Murder
Preliminary hearing of Ben Headrick and his father J. M. Headrick on charges of jointly killing Odell Simpson, will be held in the county court, Assistant Attorney Stanley Williams said.
“Under the statutes of Oklahoma, persons under the age of sixteen years charged with murder must be heard before a magistrate in the juvenile court and since the juvenile court in this state is the county court, Judge John Finney will pass upon the case of young Headrick who is fifteen and decide whether the boy’s case will go to the district court.
According to local attorneys this law is fashioned after an old Saxon law which is presumed to show whether a child of a certain age was capable of committing a murder.
According to the assistant county attorney this is the second case in the history of this state in which a person under the age of sixteen was charged with murder.
Comments