Death ruled homicide, from 68-year-old wound

Thedeath of a Pahokee pastor was ruled a homicide last month — from a bullet wound 68 years ago, according to a medical examiner’s report.

The Rev. John Henry Barrett died May 13 at age 77. He died of complications fromhis paralysis, which was the result of a bullet wound 68 years ago, accordingto a report from the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The cause of death was determined after Richard Long, a forensic investigator with the examiner’s office, contacted Barrett’s sister, Carla Lott, to find out why he was paralyzed. Lott told him “it was due to[ Barrett] being shot in the spine when hewas19 years old,” the report said.

No record of the case could be found.

A detective at the West Palm Beach Police Department told the Medical Examiner’s investigator, “the person who shot[Barrett] was purportedly arrested and charged/convicted with a crime,” the report says. “If this is the case, [Barrett’s] shooter could not be charged with another crime due to double-jeopardy.”

Barrett was pastor of the New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Pahokee for more than three decades.

Barrett’s relatives told The Palm Beach Post that he was able to walk with a cane, earn a degree from Palm Beach County Junior College and become the first African-American executive director of the Paho keeHousing Authority. According to the Post, the bullet that hit Barrett’s spinal cord started with a playful fight with a friend that led to gunfire.