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- Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, WV, Tuesday, 14 Jan 1964, p. 8, col. D
Fayette Man Murdered; Mrs. Morris Is Charged
FAYETTEVILLE - A Fayette County woman claiming she was afraid to ride in a car over icy mountain roads with a drinking driver, halted him with three pistol shots through his body, Sunday night.
Mrs. Betty Morris, 33, admitted shooting Phillip Ray Akers, 21, with a .38 owlhead pistol after a wild automobile race over Fayette Road about 10 p.m. Akers died instantly.
Deputy Sheriff Earl Dempsey, the investigating officers, said Mrs. Morris gave the following account of the events leading up to the fatal shooting:
She was originally driving the car. There was another vehicle behind them. Akers, who had been drinking most of the evening, ordered her to pull over and let the other car pass. This done, he told Mrs. Morris to speed up and catch up with the other vehicle so he could shoot at it. Because of the icy condition of the road, she was unable to keep up the race and Akers ordered her to park the vehicle and change places with him. He had been brandishing the pistol, but returned it to the glove compartment before they changed places. It was at this point Mrs. Morris said she became afraid and removed the gun from the compartment and shot Akers "three or four" times. The bullets entered in the vicinity of his ribs and passed through his body.
Mrs. Morris hailed a passing motorist and asked him to follow her to the sheriff's office where she admitted the shooting.
Dempsey said when he arrived at the murder scene, Aker's body was sprawled face down in the snow. He said Mrs. Morris, the mother of six children, and Akers, had lived in the same house on Crooked Run Road about a mile from Fayetteville, about 18 months.
Mrs. Morris was given a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Frank Simms in Fayetteville at 2 p.m. Monday.
She waived to the grand jury and was remanded to the Fayette County Jail. No bond has been set.
Akers' body is at Dodd-Payne Funeral Home in Fayetteville. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, WV, Wednesday, 15 Jan 1964, p. 2, col. B
Services Friday For P. R. Akers
FAYETTEVILLE (RNS) - Funeral services for Phillip Ray Akers, 21, of Fayetteville, Route 1, formerly of Winona, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday in the Doggett Chapel at Dempsey. The Rev. Paul Gravely will be in charge. Burial will be in the Carter Cemetery at Dempsey.
Akers was shot by Mrs. Betty Morris, 33, with a .38 owlhead pistol Sunday after a wild automobile race over Fayette Road about 10 p.m., police said. He died instantly.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Elsie Mae Akers of Willis Branch; a brother, Darrell Eugene of Troutville, Va.; six sisters, Mrs. Norma Treadway of Fayetteville, Mrs. Fannie Chapman, address unknown, Mrs. Racine Ingram of Fayetteville, Route 2, Mrs. Myrtly Ramsey of Winona, Mrs. Rose Ollis and Miss Phyllis Gaye Akers, his twin sister, both of Canton, Ohio; and a grandmother, Mrs. Mary Eleen Akers of Fayetteville, Route 1.
The body will remain at the Dodd-Payne Funeral Home and will be taken to the church one hour prior to the funeral.
- (Medical):shot while sitting in car (presumably) on Highway 81 outside Fayetteville city limits
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1943 - 1964 (20 years)
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