In the quiet, rural community of Dyke, Virginia, a dispute over a seemingly trivial card game in late January of 1927 escalated into a fatal encounter that would end one man's life and alter another's forever. Harmon Shiflett, a male resident of the area, was visiting the home of Mr. George Morris on the evening of Sunday, January 23rd. Inside, a game of cards was underway, but the friendly pastime soon soured.
An argument erupted between Shiflett and his first cousin, George Frank
Morris, reportedly over a sum of less than a dollar. Shiflett had borrowed a dollar to join the game and, after losing 45 cents, demanded the remaining 55 cents from Morris, who he claimed owed him the change. The disagreement quickly spiraled out of control, culminating in a single, tragic act of violence. Morris produced a firearm and shot Shiflett in the abdomen.
The wounded Harmon Shiflett was hastily placed on a stretcher and transported by car to the University Hospital for medical attention. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, the bullet had penetrated his intestines, and his injuries proved to be mortal. On Tuesday, January 25, 1927, two days after the shooting, Harmon Shiflett succumbed to his wounds.
On the same day that his cousin died, George Frank Morris traveled to the county seat and turned himself in to Sheriff Melone. He admitted to the shooting but maintained that he had acted in self-defense. Morris was subsequently held in jail to await the March term of the Greene County Circuit Court. Shiflett, who was the son of S. B. Shiflett, was laid to rest on the following Saturday. The incident was not Shiflett's first brush with a violent death; he had previously been with Edgar Morris on the day Morris shot and killed Justice B. G. Sullivan in the Greene County courthouse. While Shiflett had been indicted as an accomplice in that case, the charges were ultimately dropped as it was determined he was merely present at the scene.
The legal proceedings for the death of Harmon Shiflett convened during the July term of the Greene County Circuit Court. After hearing the evidence presented, the court found George Frank Morris, whose name was also reported in one newspaper account as James Frank Morris, guilty of the killing. He was sentenced to a term of 10 years in prison for the death of his cousin. George Frank Morris, born on July 31, 1891, to George N. and Sarah Shiflett Morris, would live for several more decades, passing away on December 30, 1970.
