DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

A 10-Day Digital series from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1, 2024, the 100th anniversary of the end of the Ashley Gang

Part 10 DEADLY END

The end of the Ashley Gang came the night of Nov. 1, 1924, when John Ashley, his nephew Hanford Mobley and Ray Lynn and Clarence Middleton were gunned down on the Sebastian River bridge. ELLIOTT MUSEUM

The Ashley Gang came to a violent end on the Sebastian River bridge on Nov. 1, 1924, but that was hardly the end of the story

BY GREGORY ENNS

Ray Lynn had only been a member of the Ashley Gang for three months before he was killed at the Sebastian River bridge. — Ray Lynn was a member of the Ashley Gang for only three months before he was killed.

As November 1924 approached, the Ashley Gang had been reduced to the trio of John Ashley as leader, veteran criminal Clarence Middleton, and newcomer Jerold Ray “Shorty” Lynn.

Middleton had met Lynn at Raiford State prison, and the two had escaped together from a road crew in Marianna, Florida, on Aug. 11, 1924.