Henry D. Marrow Jr. was described by friends as a "soft-spoken and sweet natured" man. He was raised by his grandparents and sometimes by the neighboring, Chavis family in Grab-all. Marrow grew up like most teenagers, without any major aim. Marrow joined to military and was stationed close to home but would constantly slip away to court a young woman in Oxford. After leaving the military, he started a family with Willie Mae Sidney, the young woman from Oxford. On May 11, 1970, Marrow appeared to make a flirtatious comment towards a white woman, violating the one of the South's most sacred unwritten rules. Her husband then attacked Marrow, Marrow did not flee initially but after the appearance of other armed white men, he attempted to run. They
