Homer Gilliam Phillips (April 1, 1880 – June 18, 1931)[1] was an American lawyer from Sedalia, Missouri who moved to St. Louis.

[2] He was a co-founder of Citizen's Liberty League, a political organization in Missouri to advance the interests of African Americans in the Republican Party.

After the ordinance passed, Phillips stated that they had been "double-crossed" by Republican leaders who did not deliver the votes needed to defeat the measure.

[11] However, the local branch of the NAACP, assisted by Phillips, filed a motion requesting a temporary injunction to suspend the ordinance from taking effect.

[12] That temporary injunction was granted on April 17, 1916, by US District Judge David Dyer, until the pending Supreme Court case Buchanan v. Warley could be decided.

[6] He was a director of the Peoples Finance Corporation, and a member of the Masonic and Omega Psi Phi fraternities.

[18] On June 18, 1931, Phillips left his house and was waiting to take a street car when he was approached by two young men.

Although the motive was unclear, the police suspected there was a dispute over the settlement of an estate worth $3000, in which McFarland's mother was an heir.

The police testified they arrested McFarland as he ran out of his house, and in his statement to them, he never mentioned going to the store the morning of the murder.

[2] Several thousand people attended his funeral service at Saint Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church, his burial was in St. Peter's Cemetery.