Ex-mayor acquitted of race riot murder in 1969 has died

FILE – In this Oct. 1, 2002, file photo, former York, Pa., Mayor Charles "Charlie" Robertson exits through a back door on the opening day of his murder trial at the York County Courthouse in York, Pa. Robertson, who resigned as mayor in 2002 before he was acquitted that year in the 1969 murder of black woman Lillie Belle Allen during a race riot in York when Robertson was a police officer, died Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, at age 83, according to his son. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower, File) FILE – In this Oct. 1, 2002, file photo, former York, Pa., Mayor Charles "Charlie" Robertson exits through a back door on the opening day of his murder trial at the York County Courthouse in York, Pa. Robertson, who resigned as mayor in 2002 before he was acquitted that year in the 1969 murder of black woman Lillie Belle Allen during a race riot in York when Robertson was a police officer, died Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, at age 83, according to his son. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower, File)

By Associated Press August 24, 2017 1 min read

A former Pennsylvania mayor acquitted of murder in the killing of a black woman during racial unrest in 1969 has died.

Former York Mayor Charlie Robertson was 83.

His adopted son, Chhayrong Chhum (CHAY-rong chum), says Robertson died early Thursday at a nursing home after being diagnosed with cancer about a month ago.

Robertson was a police officer when Aiken, South Carolina, resident Lillie Belle Allen was shot to death during a period known as the York race riots.

He was the Democratic mayor of York in 2000 when authorities reopened an investigation into the unsolved killing, which occurred while Allen was visiting family in York.