Isle of Wight County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Brett, Margaret F., 1931 

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MARGARET FRANCES BRETT 

COLONNA ACQUITTED OF 
   KILLING BRITT CHILD 

Young New Yorker Charged With 
   Manslaughter After Tragedy 
         At Carrsville 

  J. Colonna, of New York City, who has been doing photography work in 
Williamsburg and whose car struck and killed 6-year-old Margaret Britt, 
Sunday morning at Carrsville, is being held in Isle of Wight County jail 
for a hearing before the county authorities.  He was charged with 
involuntary manslaughter and negligence at the coroners inquest held at 
Carrsville Sunday morning. 

  According to the statement made at the inquest, conducted by coroner 
Rea Parker, of Smithfield, Colonna's car was proceeding at a speed of 
about 32 miles per hour, and two children, Margaret Britt and her sister 
Mary Britt, aged 9, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Britt, of Carrsville, 
were walking along on the shoulders of the highway.  In some way the 
Colonna car, driven near the edge of the concrete, struck the younger 
girl and carried her on the bumper for a space of' 15 feet. 

  The other child jumped out of the way and fell but was uninjured Colonna 
stopped the car and ran with the unconscious child to Dukes' filling station, 
and Dr. C.J. Bradshaw, who was on a visit to his home at Carrsville, was 
summoned. 

  Colonna, who is about 21 years of age, insisted that the injured child, 
still unconscious be taken to the hospital.  While on the way to the Raiford 
Hospital, at Franklin, she died and the body was brought back to the home. 

  The preliminary hearing proba- [sic] 

  The accident was witnessed by Leander Boone, who was coming out on the 
highway from a side road and saw the two children walking on the shoulders 
of the highway.  He saw the Colonna car approaching, and stopped his own car. 

  Colonna stated before the coroner's inquest that Margaret jumped in front 
of his car.  Colonna was acquitted when tried before Justice of the Peace T. 
Waverley Thomas Tuesday morning.  Mr. Britt appeared at the trial and said 
he felt the accident was unavoidable but felt that Colonna should pay the 
burial expenses of the child which was readily agreed to. 


Margaret Frances BRETT, daughter of Robert D. & Mary V. (WHITE) BRETT, 
b. 9 Dec 1924, Carrsville, struck & killed 27 Sep 1931, Carrsville, 
interred in Beaver Dam Baptist Church Cemetery*, near Franklin, 
"The Smithfield (VA) Times," (Vol. 12, No. 26), Oct. 1, 1931, p. 1, col. 3-4 

*Her parents are also buried there. 
   Beaver Dam list (BD-12), an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/cemeteries/bvrdam.txt 

Her mother's obit ("Tidewater News," May 23, 1957) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/b630m6ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/b630m12o.txt