James McCurley
Cincinnati Enquirer, 20 August 1909, page 12
James McCurley, colored was killed some time yesterday morning
before daylight by a trap shotgun in A T Morris' general store at Inverness,
about half way between Newport and Ft Thomas Ky. on the line of the Ft Thomas
electric cars.
McCurley either did not believe in signs or did not pay attention to one in the front window of the store that read "Don't enter this store at night; a burglar trap is set." When Morris opened up the store about 5 o'clock yesterday morning, he found the dead body of the negro lying face upward on the floor. A single barreled shotgun had been loaded with large shot and the muzzle pointed toward the cash register, while a string attached to the trigger connected with the drawer of the register. The full contents of the weapon entered the negro's abdomen and death must have ensued within a few minutes. The body was still slightly warm when Coroner Digby arrived and it s thought that the man had not been dead more than five or six hours.
The negro was afterward identified as James
McCurley, a cement worker. He had been employed by various residents of
the Highlands and was employed by J J Abbott of Latonia during the past winter.
He was 45 years of age and lived near the C H & D deport in Cincinnati.