Victim's Son, Retired Detective Push For Justice In Racial Killing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During race riots in 1964, a young black mother -- Johnnie Mae Chappell -- was shot and killed.

The slaying went unsolved for months. Eventually, J.W. Rich was arrested. But since he was only convicted of manslaughter, he served three years.

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Three other men that police said were with Rich at the time and reportedly confessed to killing Chappell never went to trial.

On Thursday, Chappell's son, Sheldon, continues the tradition of demonstrating for justice.

Outside the Duval County Courthouse he carried a poster with the only picture he has of his mother: She's on a gurney at the morgue with his father looking down at her.

"I want justice," Shelton Chappell said during his protest. "My mother was killed 41 years ago in Jacksonville, and all four men (allegedly involved) are still alive. We just need closure for the killing of our mother."

The State Attorneys Office, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, is wrapping up its most recent investigation into the murder. On Wednesday, they questioned Lee Cody, one of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's homicide investigators at the time.

Cody believes there's been a cover-up all along, and the case against the three others implicated in the murder will never go to trial unless State Attorney Harry Shorstein takes it to a grand jury.

"They don't want to open the can of worms," Cody told Channel 4's Jim Piggott Thursday. "They will do anything to keep us out of that grand jury room. They are smart, because we will devastate them if we get in there."

"The state attorney (and) the sheriff are all dead and can't defend themselves," Shorstein said. "There have been accusations that they had been corrupt or incompetent, and I am not sure those accusations are well founded."

As for Chappell's son, Shelton, he said he will continue his protest until this case is retried.

"I am doing what I have to do. I think I am entitled to this, and my mother deserves to have a fair trial," Chappell said.

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