A 77-year-old man, John Henry Barrett has died of a gunshot wound nearly 60 years after the bullet was fired, a medical examiner says.


The county medical examiner determined that John Henry Barrett died in May of an infection and complications related to the gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide and will do to the 2017 homicide count.

The 1958 shooting damaged Barrett's spinal cord and left him partially paralyzed, requiring him to walk with a cane.

At age 19, Barrett was shot by a friend during a fight. The friend, who was not identified in the medical examiner's report, served time in prison.

Court and law enforcement officials told the Palm Beach Post they could not find any records with information about the suspect or the shooting.

Barrett worked for three decades as a pastor at the New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Pahoke and was a former executive director of the Pahokee Housing Authority.

His family told the Post that Barrett didn't speak often about the shooting but used it as a way to inspire others.

'He never wanted to be looked upon as (being disabled),' said Terrance Lee, his great-nephew. 'He wanted to be looked up to as a normal person in society. That's the way he lived his life.'