Thriller Thursday -- Julius Lott Fortner

 

My cousin, Gratice Eve Price (1935-2021), married Julius Lott Fortner (1913-1977) in 1951 in Kite, Johnson County, Georgia, USA.

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia,
Sunday, June 10, 1951, page 11

Gratice and Julius had two children (boys): Lynward, born January 18, 1952 and Guy, born August 7, 1953.  Sometime between the birth of the children and 1965, the family settled in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, USA. While I do not know the exact reason for the relocation, I do know that Julius retired from Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, so it may have been the job opportunity that led them there.  

(For those not familiar, Central State Hospital is a historic psychiatric institution founded in 1837 and opened in 1842, which grew during the 1960s to become largest mental hospital in the world.  During its height in the 1960s, the campus covered nearly 2,000 acres with over 200 buildings and housed more than 12,000 to 13,000 patients. - Information courtesy of Google Gemini)

Sometime prior to January of 1977, Gratice and Julius divorced.  They both remained in the Milledgeville area.

On December 3, 1977, 64-year-old Julius drove to his brother-in-law's home, also in Milledgeville.  (This was Hubert Price, age 36, Gratice's brother.) Julius shot Hubert with a shotgun as he came out of the home to greet him. Julius's son, Lynward, age 25, who was inside his uncle's mobile home, came out and shot his father in the chest with a pistol.  Julius died instantly.  Hubert survived.  

Less than a year earlier, Julius had exchanged gunfire with deputies and state troopers after Gratice had taken out a warrant for his arrest because he had shot at her mobile home.

While the outside world does not know what Julius was going through, it unfortunately led to a sad, violent ending of his life.  

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia,
Tuesday, December 06, 1977, Page 4

Julius was buried on December 6 at Minton Chapel Advent Church Cemetery near Kite.

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia,
Tuesday, December 06, 1977, Page 6

A week later, the killing was ruled self-defense, and Lynward would not face charges.  

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia,
Tuesday, December 13, 1977, Page 13

So while we don't know the whys, at least in this case, we know the outcome of the case.