On August 12, 1965, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian from Massachusetts, was murdered in Hayneville, Alabama, by Tom Coleman, a white special deputy sheriff. Daniels had traveled to Alabama to support the civil rights movement and had been jailed along with other activists for protesting segregation.

Upon their release, Daniels, along with Father Richard F. Morrisroe, Ruby Sales, and Joyce Bailey, went to a local store to buy a soda. There, they encountered Coleman, who confronted them with a shotgun. When Coleman aimed his weapon at Ruby Sales, Daniels pushed her out of the way and was shot and killed. Morrisroe was also shot and severely wounded but survived.

Despite clear evidence of the crime, an all-white jury acquitted Coleman of Daniels’ murder, citing self-defense. The case became a symbol of the deep racial injustice in the South and the risks civil rights activists faced.

Jonathan Daniels is now honored as a martyr in the Episcopal Church, and his sacrifice remains a powerful reminder of the struggle for racial justice in America.