The events leading to the death of fifty-year-old White male E. O. Hess in Drew, Mississippi, began with a violent dispute between a local sharecropper and his landlord. On December 14, 1923, a tenant farmer named Joe Pullen became involved in a confrontation with W. T. Saunders regarding a debt settlement. The argument escalated into a physical altercation, culminating in Pullen shooting Saunders. Following the shooting, Pullen fled the scene, prompting the immediate formation of a heavily armed group of local citizens intent on capturing him.
E. O. Hess joined the large posse that pursued the fugitive into a swampy area near Drew, known locally as Powers Bayou, where Pullen had taken a defensive position inside a hollow log. As the group closed in on the location, Pullen opened fire from his concealed vantage point. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Hess was struck and killed. He was not the only casualty among the pursuers; reports from the time indicate that Pullen managed to kill or wound several other members of the group during the prolonged standoff.
Because the suspect, Joe Pullen, was killed at the scene, there were no arrests, trials, or convictions related to the death of E. O. Hess. The confrontation ended when the posse poured gasoline into the bayou and set fire to the area to force Pullen out. When he emerged, he was shot multiple times and killed by the surrounding group. His body was subsequently dragged back to the town of Drew. Since the sole suspect died during the incident, the legal proceedings that typically follow a homicide did not take place, and the case was closed with the death of the perpetrator.
