Criminal: Murders of Clifton & Celia Brown, 1957, Winn Parish, LA. Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** >From the April 18, 1957 Winn Parish Enterprise-News American 13 Year Old Negro Admits Slaying His Great Aunt, Uncle ____________________, 13 year old Winn Parish Negro youth who confessed to killing his great aunt and uncle Monday night because "they were mean to him", is being held in the Colfax jail until the fall meeting of the grand jury. Clifton Brown, aged 46, and his wife, Celia, 39, were discovered dead at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at their home near the St. Maurice community and the New Enterprise school by Lewis Evans, a neighbor who came to the Brown house, to get Clifton Brown to take him to Winnfield. Evans notified the Winn Parish sheriff's office who, with a State Trooper, made the investigation that led to the youth's arrest. Sheriff Jordan, stated that the Negro boy had admitted killing his aunt and uncle because "they were mean to him". He also admitted having an argument with them last Sunday. The youth first shot Celia Brown, as they were alone in the front room of the home, with a shot from his uncle's automatic .22 rifle. The shooting took place about 7 or 8 p.m. Monday night. The shot hit the woman in the top part of her left shoulder and ranged downward severing a large artery in her chest. The woman fell out the door of her home and died in the yard. The youth covered her face with a sweat shirt. The youth then is reported to have gone to the New Enterprise school and to have viewed a film before returning home to wait for his uncle. The uncle, Clifton Brown, worked for a local sawmill on the 4 to 12 shift and came home between 1 and 2 a.m. and went into the kitchen to set down his lunch pail. The boy fired one shot and missed, and fired again with the second shot hitting his uncle just over the heart. The boy threw the gun down in the back yard and then went back to the New Enterprise school. Around 4:30 a.m. he went to the home of Tom Carr and told them that he had gone to his home and called to his aunt and uncle. When they didn't answer he had to come to the Carr home, he said. The boy made his regular attendance at school the next morning where Sheriff's officers took him into custody for questioning. After lengthy questioning during the morning the boy confessed to the killing shortly after noon when he returned to the scene of the double killing. The Negro youth was a sixth grade student at the New Enterprise school. He had been living with his great aunt and uncle for the past seven or eight years at their home which is located about one half to three quarters of a mile east of the New Enterprise school. His parents, _____________and_____________ of Houston, Texas, have not been located by police officials. The youth is being held in the Colfax jail as the Winn Parish jail has no facilities for housing juveniles who by law must be separated from adult prisoners. >From the July 18, 1952 Winn Parish Enterprise-News American Negro Youth, 13, Confessed Slayer, Given Sentence Sentenced to an indefinite term in the reform school was passed Monday, July 8, on ____________________, 13 year old Winn Parish Negro who confessed to the April 15th slaying of his great aunt and uncle. Judge Harwell in Juvenile Court sentenced the boy to the term in a South Louisiana reform school for colored juveniles. The Negro youth, who confessed to the slaying of Clifton Brown, 46, and his wife, Celia, 39, because "they were mean to him", was a sixth grader at the New Enterprise School. His parents, _________&_________ __________, of Houston, Texas, had left him with his great aunt and uncle near the St. Maurice community where he had lived for the past seven or eight years. Young _____________ first shot Celia Brown with a .22 automatic rifle, about 7 or 8 p.m. Monday, April 15, hitting her in the left shoulder. He then went to the New Enterprise School, and viewed a film, returning home to wait for his uncle who worked the late shift at a sawmill. He fired two shots at Clifton Brown when he came in between 1 and 2 a.m., killing him with a shot just above the heart the second time. The dead couple was discovered by a neighbor, Lewis Evans, at 6:30 a.m. the next morning when he came by to get Brown to take him to town. He notified the Winn Parish Sheriff's Department, which with a State Trooper, investigated the slaying which led to the arrest of the boy at the New Enterprise School, where he had gone for classes Tuesday. Since his arrest, young __________ has been kept in the Colfax jail because Winnfield has not facilities to keep juveniles who by law must be separated from adult prisoners.