St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-15
T SAM. r. POITEVENJ
DISCHARGED OF THE
HOMICIDE OF CAPT,
THOS. HI. NcAVOY,

HOMICIDE OF CAPT.
THOS. H. McAvOY.
A preliminary examination VA
held last Saturday at the court
house here before Judge ]. u,
Thompson, in the matter Of TIN
State against Samuel s. Poitevent,
charged with granddaughter Of Thos.
H. McAyoy. The State Wa repre-
scented by District Attorney Boil
var Edwards and the defense by ].
A. Reid, Of Amite, and F. A. Guyol,
Of this place. We give below, in
. condensed form, the testimony:
Ralph McGracken, who was It
tending . dance 1t Pearl River Sta
ton when the ARRAY occurred, testi.
fed that be saw Poitevent and Nc
Avoy ~quarreling. McAvoy drew
his pistol and fred two shots at
Poitevent, who returned the shoot
ing. After the firing was over wit
ness found McAoy on the platform
and POitevent on the south side of
It near . stump. On cross-exam-
ination the witness said McAoy was
under the influence Of liquor and
had . good deal Of money on him.
Witness consulted with Poitevent
as to the advisability Of asking Nc
Avoy not to gamble that night. The
~quarreling was about gambling and
some family matters. The witness
knew Of no threats being made by
either party prior to the dificulty.
The witness identified Captain
Poitevent's coat, in which there ap-
peared bullet holes.
Joe JOpes heard Poitevent tell
McCracken to turn him loose, as
McAvoy was going to shoot him.
McAvoy then fired two shots 1t Poit-
event. The fire was returned and
their pistols emptied. Most Of
POitevent's shooting was done while
on his knee. McAvoy told witness
after the shooting that he had been
too hasty and gotten mad before he
had . right to. If his pistol had
not been rusty Poitevent never
would have hurt him. Before the
shooting both parties seemed very
friendly.
James Phillips heard Poitevent
tell McCracken to turn him loose rs
McAvoy was going to shoot him.
The first shots were fired from
McAvoy's side. Witness then got
away and did not see the rest of the
John Penton was playing poker
with McAoy. and others in the room
back Of the bar. Poitevent came
to the door and said to McAvoy:
''TOm, ! want to see you - soon
- you get through there" His
tone and manner were quiet. Nc
said he would join him and
did 90 in . minute. McAvoy had
departed but ten minutes when the
shooting commenced. Witness did
not zee the shooting and therefore
nothing about it. McAyoy
returned with his pistol in his hand
and said that he was shot in the
POitevent and McAvoy
we're byothers-in-law.
This closed the testimony for the
State.
Capt. S. r. Poitevent said the
was his brother-in-aw and
hey were on terms Of more than
ordinary intimacy. Witness helped
him with money and befriended
him on many occasions. On the
lay Of the difficulty witness knew
'e had received about $500 or over
which he had paid to him. Wit
Tess learned that he had not paid
lis hands that day. McCracken
anne to witness and said his father
'ould lose his money At gambling.
Witness promised to try and keep
i'm from doing so. Seeing Mel
Avoy gambling witness told him he
to e him when he got
trough with his game. Witness
id no idea Of insulting McAvoy or
hat he would get offended at his
emOnstrances. Witness sent Phil
ps for McCracken, thinking he
light assist him in persuading Mel,
lvoy to stop gambling. Before ,
returned McAvoy asked .
to walk outside. Witness
demonstrated with him about GAM {
ling. He became angry and said {
lat he was his own free agent and ,
ould do as he pleased. Witness /;
I'D him that II his other brother
new Of his doings they might .
luse him some trouble. He replied, t
it'll IN oath, that he did not owe {
his brother or any one else e
,ything. A quarrel ensued. Short :
after this McCracken came run I
ing up to the party and caught ?
lid Of witness. McAvoy drew his d
stOl and witness told McCracken Y