Roman Ducksworth Family Claims Department Of Justice Overlooked Evidence In 1962 Killing (EXCLUSIVE)

Roman Ducksworth Family Claims Department Of Justice Overlooked Evidence In 1962 Killing (EXCLUSIVE): Less than a year after Freedom Riders boarded buses for Mississippi and demanded enforcement of a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed segregation at bus stations, a black man was gunned down by a white police officer at a stop in Taylorsville.

U.S. Army Cpl. Roman Ducksworth, a military policeman stationed at Fort Ritchie, Md., had come home to be with his wife, Melva, who was suffering complications during her pregnancy with the couple's sixth child.

As the bus pulled in, Taylorsville, Miss., police officer William Kelly removed Ducksworth because the driver couldn't wake him, according to government records of some passengers' accounts. Others, including the NAACP, claimed the dispute was about segregated seating.

Army documents obtained by The Huffington Post said some passengers saw Ducksworth, 27, punch Kelly outside the bus. Other riders said the policeman struck first.