![]() |
Carolina Hotel |
One of the people evacuated from the hotel during the fire was 20-year-old Celia Olga Roberts of Creedmoor, North Carolina.
![]() |
Brantwood Hospital |
Celia's illness had nothing to do with the fire. She was dying of septicemia from a botched abortion. Dr. Thomas testified that Celia told him "a woman in Raleigh" had perpetrated the abortion.
She died on July 24, leaving behind a widowed mother.
What Celia said on her deathbed and the investigation that followed are not revealed in any news coverage I've found of the case. The investigation must have been less than straightforward, because it took three months before the identified abortionist was arrested: Mrs. Sophie E. Layton, a homemaker who lived at 706 Sasser Street in Raleigh with her husband, John, a mechanic.
A Justice of the Peace, I. E. Harris, was arrested "on charges of advising and procuring the operation." He turned state's evidence and identified Layton as the abortionist. Harris's statements corroborated what Celia had said on her deathbed -- that Harris had arranged the abortions and taken her to the hotel, but that he was not the father of her baby. He confessed to paying Layton $14 for the fatal abortion after meeting with her to make the arrangements on July 11. He said that he had done so out of sympathy for Celia's plight.
Eugene Mangum, age 21, also of Granville County, identified Layton as the person who went into Celia's room the night the abortion reportedly had taken place. He also testified that he had visited Celia several times in that room while she was staying at the hotel. Mangum evidently also knew the purpose of the hotel stay because Harris, he said, told him that he'd found a woman in Raleigh to "do the work."
Layton's defense was that she had never seen Celia nor had she ever been at the Carolina Hotel. She brought forth witnesses who said that they were with her on the days the abortion had allegedly been arranged and perpetrated.
Layton was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years in prison. The jurors deliberated for five hours before finding her guilty and recommending mercy in sentencing. Layton appealed but her conviction was upheld.
She didn't stay incarcerated long. She was paroled in December of 1934 after serving roughly two years of her sentence.
Watch "Celia's Fatal Journey" on YouTube.
Sources:
- Death certificate
- "Hart's Death In Raleigh Hotel Fire Due To Asphyxiation, Coroner's Jury Says," Charlotte (NC) News, July 18, 1931
- North Carolina death certificate
- "Woman Red Again Jailed As She Leads Mill Folk" (mismatch between headline and article content), Charlotte (NC) News, October 8, 1931
- "Raleigh Woman is Held in Jail," Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, October 8, 1931
- "Woman Arrested for Death of Girl," Statesville (NC) Record and Landmark, October 9, 1931
- "Justice And Raleigh Woman Facing Charges," Charlotte (NC) News, September 16, 1932
- "Magistrate and Woman Are Indicted by Jury in Wake," Statesville (NC) Record and Landmark, September 20, 1932
- "Mrs. Layton Gets Five-Year Term," Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, January 15, 1933
- "Woman Convicted On Manslaughter Charge," Asheville (NC) Citizen Times, January 16, 1933
- "Affirms Layton Sentence," Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, June 15, 1933
- "Raleigh Woman Secures Parole," Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, December 13, 1934
No comments:
Post a Comment