The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-10
CORONER'S JURY
 CHARGES MURDER Clyde Naylor Held Without
 Bond Yesterday WITNESSES WERE FEW
Jury Holds Eighteen Year-0ld Boy Deliberately Killed His Uncle, Robert Sykes, at Bessemer
 Last Week

After the coroners jury yesterday had heard the testimony of father, brother
 and uncle of the accused. 1t deliberated . few minutes and then stated that Rob ert l.. Sykes of Bessemer was shot and
 killed last Wednesday night at his store fin Bessemer by W. Clyde Naylor, his 1s-year-old nephew. after due deliberation
 and the act was murder in the first de- gree
 The inquest began at a;3O o'clock yes terday morning. It was terminated be- I fore noon. There were but few wit
 nesses to be examined and their stories
 were simply and quickly told to the sweltering jurymen. The first witness
 was D. c. Sykes, a brother of the de- ceased.
 Was Told of Theft According to Mir. Sykes he was in Bir-
 mingham during the afternoon of last
 Wednesday and only returned to his store
 at about o'clock He stated that he was told by his brother Robert that his
 nephew. Clyde Naylor, had been to the
 store few hours before and taken $2
 from the till and that wilber Naylor. a | younger DTOtneT ui tlNuc Sf WnD WdS tin-
 ployed by the Sykes brothers. had gone to tell his brother to bring back the
 money.
 1 As they were sitting In their store, ao
 cording to the story of E. c. Sykes, the
 nephew. Clyde Naylor. entered and, ad-
 dressing himself to D. c. Sykes, is al- legged to have said:
 Uncle Bob says cook g from the
 cash drawer.'
 the money I know you did," is the re-
 ply E. c. Sykes testified he made to
 his nephew.
 "Youe d-m liar" Is what the in-
 furiated youth said, according to his uncle
 Ephraim, as he drew his pistol and fired two shots point blank at him. Then,
 stated Mir Sykes, his brother, Robert. l with his corncob pipe and hat in his hand. jumped up between the two and
 tried to throw up the pistol hand of his nephew. His move was fatal, as the boy
 pressed his pistol against his uncle s
 breast and fired. Robert Sykes died with in 30 minutes afterwards. A Family Affair This was practically all the testimony of E. c. Sykes, with the exception Of stating that he made no effort to nave
 his nephew apprehended that night and that the whole matter was a family af- fair From the tenor of the rest of the
 testimony it appeared to the jurymen that
 efforts were being made to shield the
 boy as much as possible, as both the Sykes and Naylor families felt that they had enough troubles at the present tune without murder trial on their hands, On the advice of his counsel w. Clyde Naylor refused to testify before the cor oner's jury His father and brother tes- tffied and their testimony largely cor roborated E. c. Sykes statements. All the witnesses were agreed that Robert l.. Sykes was a quiet, timid man who all ways attended to his own affairs. It was stated that he was highly esteemed in
 Bessemer by all who knew him and that
 he had many tiOes sought to aid ms nephew to secure Work.
 There was nothing brought forward in the testimony to show that Clyde Nay Tor had been drinking on the night or the killing and as the jury disbelieved the alleged statement of Clyde Naylor to
 his father that his Uncle Bob had struck him over the head with a hammer they
 stated that the killing was a cold blood ed murder
 w. Clyde Naylor is at present a prisoner in the county jail and is being held with
 out bond to await the action of the grand jury.