Horace DeVaughn (c. 1893 – April 8, 1927) was an American man convicted of double murder, and the first person to be executed by the electric chair in Alabama. DeVaughn was convicted of the double robberies and murders of Auburn B. Moore and Mrs. Ruby Thornton, which he committed fewer than three months prior to his execution. Prior to the double murder, DeVaughn also served time in Virginia for a third murder.
Background and murder of Ada Gaither
Horace DeVaughn was born in Birmingham, Alabama. DeVaughn had brothers named Latham and Owen, sisters named Ollie and Mabel, and a mother named Lucilla; his father, William, was formerly an enslaved man.
At the time of the murders of A.B. Moore and Ruby Thornton, DeVaughn was approximately 34 years old.
Murders of A.B. Moore and Ruby Thornton
On January 19, 1927, Horace DeVaughn borrowed a shotgun from a family friend, black storekeeper D.B. Benion, to hunt rabbits. That evening, on his way home, he encountered 40-year-old A.B. Moore, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based married father of several children and the Southern Railroad Superintendent of Safety and Sanitation, parked in a car alongside 35-year-old Ruby Thornton, the wife of J.C. Thornton and mother of a ten-year-old daughter. DeVaughn approached the car, and Moore exited the car; DeVaughn then shot Moore in the face with the shotgun, after which Ruby Thornton exited the car and fled. DeVaughn followed her in pursuit, caught up to her, and shot her in the back of the head with the shotgun. DeVaughn returned to Moore's body and robbed him of $22, a watch, and a chain. Both Moore and Thornton died from their wounds; Moore was decapitated from the shotgun blast. A passerby discovered their bodies the next day.
After the murders, DeVaughn went to Zion City, a black settlement, due to his apprehension about returning home; on his way there, he discarded a pocketbook containing "cards" belonging to Moore. The next day, he went to work, where he discarded Moore's watch in a toilet. Four hours and 35 minutes elapsed between the first witness's testimony and the jury's retiring to deliberate the verdict. During his trial, prosecutors subpoenaed his brother Latham to testify against him, but Latham did not show up; officials subsequently put out an "attachment order" mandating his appearance. Other than Latham, there were 22 witnesses for the prosecution and none for the defense. Horace DeVaughn was found guilty of first degree murder without recommendation of mercy, and he was sentenced to death in the electric chair, becoming the first person in Alabama's history to be condemned to die by that method. DeVaughn was put to death at Kilby Prison in the electric chair and was also the first person to be executed at Kilby Prison. While the chair would later be painted yellow with highway paint and nicknamed "Yellow Mama", the chair was actually painted white at the time of DeVaughn's execution. Witnesses to the execution observed smoke arising from DeVaughn's leg electrodes during the third application of electricity; they also reported seeing sparks and smelling the odor of burning flesh during DeVaughn's execution.