Delia’s Gone; The Murder of Delia Green – A Savannah True Crime Story

Savannah is a city rich with haunted history and true crime lore. One tragic tale that still echoes through its moss-draped oaks is the murder of Delia Green, a 14-year-old girl killed on Christmas Eve 1900. This harrowing story – featured on Haunted Savannah Tours’ Savannah Secrets True Crime Tour – blends immersive storytelling with journalistic detail. More than a century later, Delia’s fate and its aftermath continue to captivate, inspiring mournful folk songs like “Delia’s Gone” and adding a chilling chapter to Savannah’s historic murders.

A street in Savannah’s Yamacraw neighborhood (early 20th century). This historically Black district of small wood-frame houses set the scene for Delia Green’s tragic story.

Delia was known as a polite, lively girl – “a 14-year-old child who died for the stupidest of reasons,” as one later writer lamented​. That night, however, an undercurrent of tension ran between Delia and Cooney. The two had a complicated teen romance; by some accounts they were intimate, though Delia maintained her propriety. Cooney Houston, also just 14 or 15, arrived at the party already a bit drunk and increasingly possessive of Delia​. He started teasing her, calling her his “little wife,” and boasting in front of others that Delia belonged to him – an insinuation that they had a sexual relationship​. Delia was offended and embarrassed by Cooney’s taunts. She staunchly defended her reputation, denying that she was his common-law wife and insisting “you don’t own me.” The tension grew as guests looked on uneasily, the festive mood evaporatin

A Deadly Quarrel – The Murder of Delia Green

Before long, the argument between the young couple erupted in full view of the party. Delia, angry at being publicly claimed by Cooney, cursed at him – “You son of a bitch!” – an insult that carried far more weight in 1900 than today​. Cooney’s pride was wounded. As Willie West later testified, Delia’s sharp tongue and rejection maddened Houston beyond reason​. West intervened and demanded that Cooney leave the house to calm things down​. Enraged at being thrown out and humiliated by Delia’s words, Cooney reached for a hidden revolver.

Without warning, he spun around at the doorway and fired a single gunshot at Delia​. The crack of the pistol cut through the winter air, silencing the Christmas revelry in an instant. The bullet struck Delia in the lower abdomen – her right groin – and she crumpled to the floor as screams erupted around the room​. For a moment, there was stunned confusion; the warm, joyful home had become a scene of blood and chaos. Delia writhed in pain as shocked guests rushed to her aid. The 14-year-old girl had been gravely wounded, and the celebratory Christmas Eve gathering descended into horror.

Moses “Cooney” Houston fled into the night as soon as the shot was fired. But he didn’t get far. Willie West gave chase, bolting out of the house after the teenage shooter despite the danger​. West managed to catch Cooney within a block or two. In those frantic moments, the young killer reportedly showed no remorse. West, accompanied by other bystanders, disarmed Cooney and turned him over to a city police patrolman named J.T. Williams​. According to Officer Williams’ later testimony, Houston immediately confessed to shooting Delia because she had insulted him, even bragging “he would do it again” under the same circumstances​. It was a chilling statement from a boy barely in his teens.

Back at the West home, Delia Green was carried to her mother’s house on Ann Street and placed under a doctor’s care. She clung to life for a few hours, but the damage was fatal. In the early dark hours of Christmas morning 1900, around 3:00 a.m., Delia Green died from the gunshot wound​. What should have been a day of joy had become a day of mourning. A 14-year-old girl’s life had been cut short over a petty teenage quarrel, and Savannah had gained an infamous true crime that would be remembered for generations.

Shock and Aftermath – Witness Accounts and News Reports

News of the senseless killing spread quickly through Savannah’s communities. The fact that both victim and killer were so young – “a child murdered by a child,” as some would later say – made the crime all the more shocking​. Local newspapers seized on the story, and their contemporaneous reports painted the murder as utterly unprovoked. Willie West and his wife Emma, the party hosts, gave statements to police that were widely quoted. They asserted that apart from Delia’s “contemptuous words” toward Houston, the attack came without cause and was “as cowardly and brutal as it was unprovoked”​. In other words, nothing Delia said justified the deadly violence that followed.

Investigators soon learned more about the relationship between Delia and Cooney. In the ensuing coroner’s inquest and preliminary hearings, witnesses detailed how Houston had been courting Delia for months, and had grown possessive of her affections​. Delia, for her part, liked Moses but resisted his attempts to control her.

Headline from the Savannah Morning News on March 14, 1901, announcing Moses Houston’s upcoming trial for the murder of Delia Green. The news report emphasized that the killing appeared “entirely unprovoked,” driven by Delia’s rejection of Houston’s advances​.

The grand jury formally indicted Moses “Cooney” Houston for murder in February 1901, only weeks after Delia’s death​. Savannah newspapers closely followed the case. By March, headlines were announcing that Houston would “Face a Jury for the Killing of Delia Green”, underscoring the community’s demand for justice​. Articles reiterated how Delia’s only “crime” had been to reject Houston’s claim over her, spurning his drunken declaration that she belonged to him​. Such motive – a wounded male ego – was sadly familiar in turn-of-the-century crime pages, but the tender ages of those involved made the case stand out. The stage was set for a dramatic courtroom encounter in the spring of 1901, and all of Savannah waited to see whether a jury would show mercy to a 15-year-old killer.

The Trial of Moses Houston – Justice in the Spring of 1901

The murder trial of Moses “Cooney” Houston began in Chatham County Superior Court in mid-March 1901. Spectators packed the courthouse, eager for a glimpse of the boy at the center of this tragic story. Houston certainly played up his youth before the jury – he even showed up to court wearing short pants, the kind a young schoolboy might wear, to remind everyone that he was just a teenager​. There was no separate juvenile justice system in Georgia at that time, so despite being only 15, Houston was tried as an adult for murder​.

In the courtroom, the prosecution laid out a straightforward case: Delia Green’s death was an intentional, cold-blooded act of vengeance for an insult. Witness after witness – including Willie and Emma West – testified that Houston had quarreled with Delia, been kicked out of the party, then retaliated by shooting her​. They refuted any notion that the shooting was an accident or provoked by anything serious. Houston’s defense, however, attempted to muddy the waters. When the young defendant took the stand (as was his right in that era), he spun a very different tale from the brash confession he gave police on the night of the murder. Cooney now claimed that Delia’s shooting was a tragic accident. He told the jury that Willie West had asked him to fetch a pistol from a repair shop earlier that evening, which he did​. Houston said he brought the gun back to the house and set it on a table under a napkin, thinking nothing more of it​. Later, according to Houston, he and another boy, Eddie Cohen, got into a friendly scuffle over the revolver as a joke, and in the tussle the weapon accidentally discharged​. He claimed he didn’t even realize Delia was hit until minutes later. Houston further testified that he ran to get a doctor as soon as he knew Delia was hurt, and was willingly returning to help when officers arrested him​. In short, he portrayed himself as shocked and innocent, insisting he had “no reason” to shoot Delia and never meant her any harm​.

This story directly contradicted what witnesses had seen and heard. The supposed scuffle partner, Eddie Cohen, testified he wasn’t even there at the time of the shooting, undermining Houston’s tale of an accidental gunfight over the pistol​. Another inmate from the jail claimed to corroborate Houston’s accident story, but was proven to have not been in the house when the shot was fired​. In the end, no one in the courtroom believed Cooney Houston’s far-fetched version. The prosecutor, Solicitor General W. W. Osborne, in a brief but forceful closing argument, urged the jury to see the murder as “brutal, cowardly and unprovoked” and to return a verdict of guilty​.

It did not take long for the all-male jury of that era to reach a decision. After a short deliberation, they came back with a verdict of guilty of murder – but with a recommendation to mercy​. The recommendation for mercy was essentially an appeal for a life sentence rather than execution, typically used when the jury felt the offender’s youth or circumstances warranted leniency. In the courtroom, the 15-year-old Houston remained uncannily calm as the verdict was read. He had sat through the trial “without turning a hair,” as one newspaper put it​. Now he stood to face Judge Paul E. Seabrook for sentencing.

udge Seabrook solemnly noted the jury’s plea for mercy and pronounced the only sentence allowed in such a case: life imprisonment​. What happened next stunned those watching. Instead of breaking down or begging for forgiveness, the young convict simply nodded and said, “Thank you, sir,” to the judge​. This extraordinary show of nonchalance from a teenager being sent to prison for life made headlines the next day.

The newspaper report the following morning marveled that Cooney Houston “never flinched” during the trial and “pranced gaily out” of the courtroom after receiving his life term​. To observers, it was as if the gravity of what he had done scarcely registered. In contrast, Houston’s mother – described in the press as an “old black woman” – broke down sobbing in court upon hearing her son would spend his life in prison​. It was a heartbreaking scene all around. But for the community, there was a sense that justice – however imperfect – had been served. The young man who killed Delia Green would pay the penalty, and perhaps the city could find closure for this horrific Christmas crime.

Aftermath – The Fate of Moses Houston and Delia’s Resting Place

After the trial, Moses “Cooney” Houston began his life sentence in the Georgia penitentiary system. In 1901, a life term truly meant “for the rest of his natural life” unless a pardon or parole intervened. For a while, Houston disappeared from the headlines as other news took center stage. Behind bars, he was reportedly a model prisoner, and as years passed there were calls for clemency due to his youth at the time of the crime. In October 1913, after Houston had served just under 13 years, Governor John M. Slaton granted him a parole​. Moses Houston was released from prison at age 28 and given a second chance at life. He soon left Savannah – perhaps owing to the infamy of his name – and moved to New York City, hoping to start anew​. Little is recorded about his later years, but according to accounts compiled by historians, he continued to have trouble with the law even after his release​murderbygaslight.com. Moses “Cooney” Houston died in New York in 1927, at around 41 years of age​. His story, however, was already immortalized in a unique way – not for his deeds after prison, but for the dark legacy of what he had done as a teenager.

And what of Delia Green, the young victim whose life was cut short? Delia was laid to rest in Savannah’s Laurel Grove Cemetery South, the historic burial ground for the city’s African-American community. Tragically, her grave was unmarked – a common fate for Black victims of that era, especially a poor girl with grieving but modest means family​. For decades, Delia’s resting place was known only to her loved ones. Only much later, in the 21st century, was a memorial headstone placed in the cemetery to honor her. Today, a simple marker recalls Delia Green as a “Blues Muse,” acknowledging the ballads her death inspired​. It stands as a belated tribute to a 14-year-old girl whose name would echo far beyond Savannah.

Cultural Legacy – The Ballad of “Delia’s Gone”

One reason the murder of Delia Green still lives on in popular memory is that it gave rise to one of America’s most famous murder ballads. In the early 20th century, songwriters – especially in the African-American oral tradition – began composing mournful verses about Delia’s tragic end. These folk songs circulated through the South, keeping the story alive in music even as the real individuals faded into history. Folklorists have documented at least two major versions of the “Delia” song, both of which became staples of the folk and blues repertoire​.

One version is usually known simply as “Delia”. The earliest recorded rendition was by legendary Georgia bluesman Blind Willie McTell, who recorded “Delia” in the 1920’s. McTell’s somber blues lyrics lament the loss of Delia (“She’s all I got is gone,” one line goes) and place some blame on the company she kept, hinting that “all the friends Delia ever had were gamblers” in some versions​murderbygaslight.com. Another distinct version, which gained fame as “Delia’s Gone,” is often credited to Bahamian folksinger Blake Alphonso “Blind Blake” Higgs​. Higgs’ take on the song was explicitly from the killer’s point of view, with the chilling refrain “Delia’s gone, one more round, Delia’s gone.” Folklorists believe sailors carried the song from Savannah to the Bahamas, where Higgs learned it, recorded it, and then it returned stateside years later.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s folk revival, the ballad of Delia Green was rediscovered by a new generation of artists. Pete Seeger and other revivalists sang “Delia’s Gone,” and a young Bob Dylan recorded a rendition of “Delia” early in his career​. The song also entered the country music world – artists like Johnny Cash performed their own spin on “Delia’s Gone,” making the story even more famous. Each retelling in song tended to stray further from the facts. In some lyrics, the killer’s name changed to “Curly” or “Tony,” and often the ages and circumstances were altered for dramatic effect​. Perhaps the most extreme take was Johnny Cash’s 1990s version of “Delia’s Gone,” in which he grimly jokes of tying Delia to a chair and shooting her with a “submachine gun” – a far cry from the single pistol shot in the real story​. Despite the liberties taken, these songs ensured that Delia Green’s name would not be forgotten. For many, the ballad was the first hint that behind the haunting refrain lay a true story of a girl who lived – and died – in Savannah long ago.

Indeed, the cultural impact of Delia’s murder is such that her story transcended print news to become part of American musical folklore. As music historian Sean Wilentz noted, Generations of folk and blues singers have kept Delia’s memory alive, though often unknowingly shaping her tale into myth. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that researchers like Robert Winslow Gordon and John Garst traced the song back to its real-life origins in Savannah​. When they did, they uncovered the newspaper clippings and court records that confirmed Delia Green’s murder was not just a folksong fantasy but a genuine tragedy.

Haunting Legacy in Savannah’s History

Today, more than 120 years later, the ghost of Delia Green’s story still haunts Savannah – figuratively, if not literally. The spot on West Hull Street (formerly Harrison Street) where Delia was shot is now tucked amid the modern city, unmarked to passersby. Yet those who know the tale can almost imagine the flicker of lantern light and the sound of that fatal gunshot on a Christmas Eve long past. The case of Delia Green remains a touchstone in Savannah’s true crime history, often recounted on ghost tours and true crime walks. It encapsulates the drama of youthful passion turned to tragedy, set against the backdrop of Savannah’s Gilded Age era African-American community.

For visitors seeking to explore Savannah’s darker history, Delia’s story is an especially poignant stop. Haunted Savannah Tours’ Savannah Secrets True Crime Tour includes the tale of Delia Green among its most compelling cases. The tragic murder of Delia Green shows that behind Savannah’s graceful mansions and cobblestone lanes lies a past riddled with real hauntings and heartbreaks. It’s a story that reminds us how a single violent act can send ripples through time – inspiring songs, fueling ghostly lore, and ensuring that Savannah’s secrets are never truly laid to rest.

Sources: Historical newspaper archives (Savannah Morning News, 1901)​

gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu

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gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu

; trial transcripts and witness accounts​

gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu

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oldspirituals.com

; Murder by Gaslight blog (2010)​murderbygaslight.com​