In the autumn of 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri, a young African American male piano player named Allen Britt, age 17, was fatally shot. The events that led to his death unfolded on the evening of October 15th, stemming from a dispute with his 22-year-old girlfriend, Frankie Baker. The couple had a tempestuous relationship, and tensions escalated when Baker reportedly found Britt with another woman, Alice Pryor, at a local dance hall where he had just won a contest.
The argument continued
when Britt later went to Baker's residence at 211 Targee Street in the early morning hours. During a heated confrontation, the situation turned violent. Baker would later claim that Britt attacked her with a knife. In response, she retrieved a. 32-caliber revolver she kept under her pillow and fired a single shot, striking Britt in the abdomen.
Following the shooting, Frankie Baker was promptly arrested by the police. The critically wounded Allen Britt was taken to the City Hospital, where he identified Baker as the person who had shot him. Britt lingered for a few days before succumbing to his wound. Baker was charged with murder and detained at the Four Courts jail.
Frankie Baker's trial began in November 1899. She maintained that she had acted in self-defense, testifying that Britt had been abusive and had threatened her life just before the shooting. Ultimately, the court acquitted her, ruling the killing was a case of justifiable homicide. The story of the fatal lovers' quarrel quickly became the inspiration for the famous American folk ballad, "Frankie and Johnny."
