While reading through a Louisiana newspaper from 1916, I found the story of Willie Zimmer, the boy murderer. A quick Google search showed me that Dylan Waltz, a folk and blues singer, wrote a song about the boy who killed his mother and got away with it.
Willie was born into a broken home. His father was an alcoholic and both of his parents constantly argued in front of him and his three younger siblings. There were reports of the father threatening to kill the mother, Mary Zimmer, and that he would, and I quote, “bump the old lady off.”
Because his parents fought so much, Willie was left on his own. He grew up on the streets and was never supervised or parented.
During Willie’s trial, it was discovered that when he was 7-years-old, he “cursed like a trooper, drowned the neighbors’ chickens, twisted cats’ tails, set fire to the house several times,” and tried to put his little sister into the oven to bake her.
When he was 8-years-old, he made an appearance in juvenile court as an “incorrigible without proper parental care.”
At the age of ten, he was charged with stealing a cow and had been arrested for loitering.
When he was 12, he was arrested for running away from home.
One day, mother Mary Zimmer decided that she had had enough of her husband and his alcoholic rages. She packed up the three youngest children and left the family home.
She left Willie, who was then either 12 or 13-years-old, behind to live with his father.
Three days later, Willie’s father beat him. That same day, Willie snuck his father’s revolver out of the house, and went to see his mother. According to Willie, Mary wanted nothing to do with her son and she chased him away with a broom.
Willie said he tried to give the gun to his mother so she could protect herself from his father, but the gun went off by mistake and one bullet went into her neck or head and a second went into her chest. The state claimed that the boy aimed the gun at his mother and shot her intentionally.
Willie ran from the scene, but was quickly caught.
The boy was arrested and sent to prison to await trial. Louisiana wanted to send the boy to the gallows, however, that was not going to happen
Many people felt that Willie was not to blame for his mother’s murder. Instead, they believed that society was to blame. They said that a boy so young could not be held responsible for his actions and that the boy could grow into a decent man if given a chance.
There were also alienists who believed that young Willie had blood clots on the brain. The boy was placed under the observation of alienists to determine if he should be sent to an insane asylum and receive an “operation to change his nature.”
Willie went to trial in January, 1917. His trial lasted a whopping 15 minutes.
Instead of going to the gallows, Willie was sent to reform school to be “made into a man.”
But he didn’t last long in the reform trade school and ran away from the Monroe, Louisiana facility in August of that same year.
Less than a month later, Willie was discovered on a farm, 30 miles away from the reform school. He had taken on a job as a farm hand.
The farmer saw his picture in the newspaper and questioned Willie about it. Willie confessed that he was the boy who murdered his mother. He was returned to the authorities and was once again placed in reform school.
In 1919, Willie made a final appearance in the newspapers. He had again escaped the reform school, was captured, and was sentenced to the reform school for an indefinite amount of time.
People who originally supported the rehabilitation of the boy either remained silent at this time, or, it was reported, they felt betrayed by the boy’s actions and felt that he was ungrateful for the second chance he had been given.
