June 7, 2025 marks 75 years since, Henry Andrews, a World War II veteran, was shot and killed by Norlina’s Chief of Police, in North Carolina. His death followed a series of events that, to this day, Andrew’s family members are continuing to unravel but refuse to forget.
His family still refer to Andrews, who was 25-years-old when he was killed, as “Uncle Henry.” They are choosing to mark this year’s anniversary with a soil collection ceremony and marker installation close to where Andrews was lynched. His relatives are also working on launching a tour of the area surrounding the site, and a podcast.
“He was a very jolly type of person,” said Eddie Fitts, during a 2022 interview with CRRJ Clinic student Julian Montijo ‘22. Fitts is Andrews’ nephew and was three years-old when his uncle was slain. “I knew for a fact that he was well liked among the neighborhoods, among the whites and Blacks … I’d never known or heard of him having an enemy. So that day, it’s a mystery to me.”
Chief W.N. Carter and Deputy Sheriff Mark Bottoms apprehended Andrews, following an alleged altercation with a country store owner. He was placed in the back of their patrol car with another Black man, Isaac Mayo, who was arrested earlier that day at a bus stop in a neighboring town. Both men were detained on “drunkenness” charges. According to all witness statements, Andrews did not resist arrest and went peacefully with the officers. Once in the vehicle, Bottoms started the drive to Warrenton jail, less than ten miles away.
The exact detail of what happened during that car ride remains unclear. Initially, it was reported Andrews had pled with the officers to let him go, placing a hand on Carter’s shoulder as he appealed to them. Seemingly enraged by a Black man’s physical touch, Carter told Andrews to get his hand off him, and Andrews sat back proclaiming that he meant no harm. Carter then shot Andrews three times in the neck.
The car stopped and Mayo tried to jump out, fearing for his own safety. Mayo was physically subdued by Bottoms and placed back in the police vehicle.
The officers claimed self-defense, alleging Andrews struck Carter over the head and reached for the officer’s holster, attempting to take his gun.
Less than a week after Andrews’ killing, the Warren County NAACP branch wrote to Thurgood Marshall, the national NAACP’s Special Counsel, requesting his assistance in arranging a meeting with federal agents to urge them to open an investigation into the shooting of Andrews by Chief Carter.
On June 28, 1947, the Legal Committee of the NAACP, in their efforts to collect evidence concerning the death of Andrews obtained the following statement from Mayo:
I, Issac [sic] Mayo do hereby render the folling [sic] evidence in this case, to my knowledge.
On the day of June 8th., 1947, I was arrested in the town of Norlina, by chief of police, W. N. Carter and was taken to the town of Ridgeway, N. C. where Henry Andrews was also arrested by W. N. Carter. After both of us were arrested and in the hands of Wn. [sic] Carter and deputy sheriff Bottoms, we started enroute to Warrenton.
Henry Andrews and I, the two prisoners, were riding in the rear seat of the car, and were not handcuffed. I remember nothing that took place between Andrews and chief of police Carter, because I must have dozed of [sic] to sleep: However, I was awaken by the sound of a shot that was fired in the automobile in which we were riding. On awakening, I was very much frightened, and I attempted to get out of the automobile after seeing that Andrews had been shot. After being placed back in the automobile, I remember nothing else.
Mayo’s testimony, however, varied in the days following Andrew’s death. He told NAACP investigators that he had been asleep and so didn’t witness any of the preceding events but was awoken by the officer’s gunshots. In one account, Mayo said the officers drove around waiting for Andrews to die before heading to the police station, where Mayo was detained, and Andrews’ body was laid out on the lawn in front of the jailhouse.
Mayo’s later report to the FBI conflicted with his earlier statements, and corroborated Carter and Bottoms’ version of events, supporting their claims that Andrews’ killing was in self-defense.
In November 1947, the DOJ closed its investigation into Andrews’ killing, having found “no basis for prosecution” based on the official statement of Mayo and the officers’ version of events.
The truth of Mayo’s witness account was never ascertained. On August 24, 1947, the 20-year-old WWII veteran was discovered by a train engineer on nearby railroad tracks, his body mangled, having been struck by a train and with an unexplained head wound. This was less than a week after providing his account to FBI investigators.
According to documents contained in the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive, NAACP investigators believed Mayo was afraid to relate the truth and worried that the NAACP did not have the necessary resources to protect him if he did tell the true story. Mayo’s official cause of death was recorded on his death certificate as having been struck by a train after walking along the tracks. A subsequent investigation by the Seaboard Airline Railroad revealed, however, that Mayo was likely dead before his body hit the train due to the large hole in his head and the lack of blood at the scene.
Mayo’s body was never formally examined by a doctor and no autopsy was ever performed. No investigation was conducted by local or federal law enforcement into Mayo’s death.
In Montijo’s interview with many of Andrews’ surviving relatives, they shared memories of Andrews and hopes that the truth surrounding his death might still be found.
George Fitts, another nephew, remembered his Uncle as “a very good and gentle person that, everyone liked and looked up to as a man.”
Andrews’ relatives and descendants successfully petitioned The Equal Justice initiative to host a soil collection ceremony and erect a memorial, this summer, on Soul City Farm, land that has been in the Andrews family since 1945. It is also a short distance from where Carter took Andrews’ life.
In June, the family plans to organize and operate A Tour in Color, bus tours of the area aimed at educating residents and visitors about racial violence and resistance in Warren County. They will also launch a podcast called Hushed History, which will be available later this year, and will feature academics, attorneys, the descendants of lynched victims, as well as relatives of perpetrators of racial terrors.
“It is important for us to remember [Andrews] this remarkable Black man, a devoted farmer, and a proud veteran of the United States Armed Services,” his family wrote in their application for the memorial.
Eddie Fitts described growing up, witnessing the devastation and generational trauma that Andrew’s killing brought upon his family. He said he watched his mother and Andrews’ sister “cry from that date, the day he was shot, until they went to their grave. My mother was 87 years old when she died,” he said.
LaTonya Andrews Hunter, Andrews’ great niece, succinctly reflected the thoughts and feelings of Andrews’ relatives in 2022. “There has to be some sort of reckoning.”
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