Ray County, Missouri Obituaries - Denton, Melvin d. May 5, 1920 b. d. May 5, 1920 cem. nee: pd. 1920 p. Richmond Missourian, Richmond, Missouri com. death date from death certificate obit: Commits Suicide. Melvin Denton Ends Life By Shooting Himself Through the Heart. Melvin Denton, the seventeen year old son of John Denton, on Hill street, committed suicide, Wednesday morning about 11 o’clock, by shooting himself through the breast with a revolver. Sheriff C.W. Higdon was called to the house about 11:15 a.m. He and his deputy, H.R. Wilson, arrived at the house and found the body of Denton lying on the floor. Upon investigation, they found a .38 caliber revolver lying under the edge of his shoulder. Dr. E.T. McGaugh was called in and found a bullet wound just above the heart. Coroner Hannibal Harris was later called in and after viewing the body, decided that an inquest was not necessary, he being satisfied that there was no foul play, but that the would was self-inflicted. It was found that the bullet had passed through the body was a .38, the same size as the empty shell in the revolver. A note was found which read as follows: "I am doing this because I am tired of living. Don’t worry about me. - Melvin D." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jenna Zunker USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------