On Memorial Day, May 31, 1971, Carnell Russ, a 24-year-old Black / African American man, was driving his family home to Monticello, Arkansas, after visiting relatives. In the car with him were his wife, Clementine, six of their nine children, and a cousin. As they passed through Yorktown in Lincoln County, they were pulled over by State Trooper Jerry Green for allegedly speeding.
After a brief exchange, Trooper Green instructed Russ to follow him to the Star City jail to post a $23 bond.
At the jail, they were met by Star City Police Officer Charles Lee Ratliff and Norman Draper, a trainee. An argument ensued when Russ requested a copy of the speeding ticket before paying the bond, a right he was entitled to under state law. Ratliff refused to provide the ticket and threatened to jail Russ for his refusal to pay. According to Ratliff, when he attempted to place Russ in a cell, Russ resisted and took a "fighting stance." Ratliff claimed he then struck Russ in the head with his pistol, and the weapon accidentally discharged, striking Russ in the forehead. However, Trooper Green's account differed, stating that no significant struggle occurred and that Ratliff extended his arm and shot Russ. Russ was rushed to a hospital in Little Rock, where he died from his wound in the early hours of the following morning.
Following the shooting, Officer Charles Lee Ratliff was arrested. A grand jury, composed of fourteen white and two Black members, indicted Ratliff on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. In January 1972, an all-white jury acquitted Ratliff after deliberating for less than eight minutes. The Russ family, with the help of the NAACP, pursued further legal action. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed, and after an initial verdict in favor of Ratliff was overturned on appeal, a federal jury in 1979 awarded the Russ family $288,000 in damages. However, Ratliff had left the state, and the family never received the payment. The other officers present, Jerry Green and Norman Draper, were not criminally charged in connection with the shooting, though they were named as defendants in the civil suit.
