1929 – Mahan Boy Kills Playmate

71 years ago in Paintsville time stood still.

What happened could not have happened.  The consequences could not have been what they were.  A child could not be going to prison for manslaughter.  But is did happen.

 On May 18, 1929, at approximately 10:00 A. M., two little boys, ages 7 and 8, were playing together when an argument began over pieces of scrap iron they had gathered to sell as junk.  The boys began fighting.  When it was over, one of these two youngsters who had been friends throughout their young lives would be dead and the other would be charged with manslaughter. 

It began as a normal, bright, sunny spring day in Paintsville. 

A local junk dealer was buying scrap iron for a few cents a pound.  Carl Mahan, 7 (subsequently identified as being only 6), and Cecil Van Hoose, 8, were friends and neighbors.  The boys had played together most of their lives.  Their families were close friends and neighbors.  Carl was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Mahan.  Cecil was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Van Hoose. 

No one knows how the argument began or what the boys were quarreling over.  The fight which erupted continued for some time, according to witnesses, when Mahan started for his home and threatened to kill his adversary.  None of the witnesses apparently took little Carl’s threat seriously.  They should have. 

Upon entering his parents’ home, Carl Mahan stood on a chair to reach his father’s shotgun, which was hanging over the door.  When he climbed down he went back out and, without saying another word, fired the 16 gauge shotgun at point-blank range at Cecil Van Hoose. 

 The blast struck Cecil in the chest and abdomen, mortally wounding him.  The8 year old Cecil turned and began running toward his home, crying, “Momma!  Momma!”  After running about 50 yards the boy fell.  Neighbors hurriedly picked him up and placed him in a car.  Cecil was taken to Paintsville Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Carl parents were not home at the time of the tragedy.  Both families were grief stricken when told of the shooting.  Word spread throughout Paintsville and the county almost immediately.  The community was incredulous!  How could such a thing have happened?

Later, Carl Newton Mahan was arraigned before County Judge John  W. Butcher, however, the case was postponed until after the funeral service for Cecil Van Hoose.  Slightly more than a week later, a juvenile court jury convicted the Mahan boy of manslaughter and Judge Butcher sentenced the child to Greendale Reform School until he reached his 21^st birthday. 

 The sentencing of a six year old child to reform school brought a howl of protest from near and far.  Newspapers from Cincinnati to Chicago headlined the story and demanded reconsideration.  Circuit Judge J. F. Bailey intervened by issuing a Writ of Prohibition.  Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Attorney General, J. W. Cammack, telegraphed a request for the records of the case, a request which local authorities said they never received.  Governor Flem D. Sampson issued a statement stating that he would not interfere in the case.  Governor Sampson stated, “I feel sure there will be no miscarriage of justice.  The courts will handle the case properly.” 

Thus, the deadly scuffling of two young boys became what was described as “one of the most deplorable and withal the saddest tragedy to take place in Kentucky.”  The event was made even sadder and more tragic by the court’s handling of little Carl Newton Mahan.