The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1920-11-13
BABY MURDERED BY
UNKNOWN PROWLER,
Daughter of Mr.. and Mrs. Roy Staf-
ford, Former Iberians, Killed In
Mothers Arms.

With a shell from a 38 calibre re
volver as the only clue, officers are
Still searching for the unknown per
son who shot and killed Muril Stat
ford, the 2-year-old daughter of Mr..
and Mrs. Roy Stafford, seven miles
south of Tempe near the Guadalupe
Indian reservation about 80 o'clock
Friday night. No motive for the fir
ing of the mysterious shot which
struck the baby in the back of the
head has been learned by the officers.
1t is thought that the shot was in
tended for the former owner of the
store.
! The inquest was held in Tempe
yesterday afternoon by Coroner Cum
mings. The verdict was death due
to gunshot wound inflicted by an
unknown person. Funeral services
for the little one were held yesterday
afternoon in Tempe, Arizona
According to the story told by Mr..
Stafford, about 80 O'Clock on Fri
day night he heard some one rattle
the front door of the store building
and then the back door Mr.. Stat
ford lives in an apartment over the
store, of which he is manager,
stairway at the back of the store be-
ing the only entrance to the apart
ment. After listening for several
minutes, Mr.. Stafford said, he heard
the sound of crashing glass in the
front part of the store and he got up
out of bed and lighted light.
Greeted by Shot.
His wife got up at the same time,
he said, and their small daughter was
awakened by the crash of the glass.
Stafford said he got his automatic
revolver and flashlight and went to
the door leading out to the stairway.
His wife, he said, followed him with
the baby in her arms, it's head rest
ing on her left shoulder. Mr.. Stat
ford said he opened the door and
stepped onto the small porch at the
head of the stairs.
y At the instant he started to flash
his light, shot was fired from the
grund about 80 feet away. The shot
went through the panel of the door
and struck the baby in the back of
the head. Mrs. Stafford, he said,
was approaching the door when the
shot struck the baby. The bullet
passed through the baby's head,
struck panel in the dining room of
the apartment and then rebMinded
into the kitchen where it was found.
Mr.. Stafford said he fired one shot
in the direction Of the flash of the
other gun and then his gun jammed
and he could not use it. No other
shots were fired and the unknown
murderer left the place. Officers in
the affair found that an
iron bar, used about the.store to prop
open the screen door, had been used
by the unknown person to punch a
hole through the window. The bar
had been left in the window after it
was thrust through the glass.
Had No Enemies.
Mr.. Stafford stated that he had
been at the store about a month and
had come from Texas recently for the
health of his wife. The store form
erly was owned by Frank w. Turn
er and H. } Robichaux but about a
month ago Turner sold out to Robi-
chaux. Mr. Turner was unable to
throw any light on the murder yes
terday He stated that he had some
trouble with several Mexicans in the
over their conduct in
the store but could not assign any
motive for them shooting at Stafford
thinking that it might be him.