Farley and Sims—Eagle Scouts who had attended a segregationist rally earlier in the day—had heard of the bombing, and of the protests that were going on in the city. Thinking that Ware and his brother had been throwing rocks, Farley directed Sims to scare them by shooting Farley’s handgun as they drove past on a motorbike. After Sims fired, Ware tumbled off the handlebars of his brother’s bike. Sims and Farley did not stop to find out why.

Hit in the chest and face, the 13-year-old Ware died on the Docena-Sandusky Road on the outskirts of Birmingham. In addition to the young women killed in the bombing, Ware’s September 15, 1963 death followed that of Johnny Robinson, who had been killed by a policeman a short time earlier.

When confronted by police, Sims confessed to shooting Ware, saying he had done so accidentally, as he had fired with his eyes closed. Sims and Farley were charged with first-degree murder. At trial, Sims was convicted of second-degree manslaughter; Farley pled guilty to the same charge. They were both sentenced to seven months in jail, but a judge then altered the penalty, giving them two years’ probation instead. Decades later, Sims and Farley both apologized to Ware’s family.

Buried with no headstone, the condition of Ware’s grave deteriorated over the years. After a news story shared this information, donations were sent in to help. Ware was reburied in a new grave, with a marker, in 2004.

Though the deaths of the four girls received more attention for years, Ware is now acknowledged as another “foot soldier” of the Civil Rights Movement. In 2013, he was inducted into Birmingham’s Gallery of Distinguished Citizens.