Murder of James Byrd Jr.

James Byrd Jr.
Born(1949-05-02)May 2, 1949
Jasper County, Texas, U.S.
DiedJune 7, 1998(1998-06-07) (aged 49)
Jasper, Texas, U.S.
Cause of deathMurder by dragging
Resting placeJasper City Cemetery
OccupationAccount executive
Children3

James Byrd Jr. (May 2, 1949 – June 7, 1998) was an African American man who was murdered by three white men, two of whom were avowed white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King dragged him for three miles (five kilometers) behind a Ford pickup truck along an asphalt road. Byrd, who remained conscious for much of his ordeal, was killed about halfway through the dragging when his body hit the edge of a culvert, severing his right arm and head. The murderers drove on for another 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometers) before dumping his torso in front of a Black church.[1][2]

Brewer and King were the first white men to be sentenced to death for killing a Black person in the history of modern Texas.[3] In 2001, Byrd's lynching-by-dragging led the state of Texas to pass a hate crimes law, which later led the United States Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009.[4] Brewer was executed by lethal injection for his part in the murder on September 21, 2011.[5] King was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, on April 24, 2019.[6][7][8][9] Berry was sentenced to life imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in 2038.[10]

  1. ^ "3 whites indicted in dragging death of black man in Texas". CNN. July 6, 1998. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "Closing arguments today in Texas dragging-death trial". CNN. February 22, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Robertson, Campbell (April 24, 2019). "Texas Executes White Supremacist for 1998 Dragging Death of James Byrd Jr". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022.
  4. ^ Jackson, David (October 28, 2009). "Obama signs hate-crimes law rooted in crimes of 1998". USA Today.
  5. ^ "White supremacist Lawrence Russell Brewer executed for dragging death". CBS News. September 22, 2011.
  6. ^ "King John William". Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference keysDidPrison was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Graves, Darrian (December 21, 2018). "Execution date set for John William King for the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd, Junior". KFDM News.
  9. ^ "Texas executes white supremacist who dragged black man to death". CBS News. Associated Press. April 24, 2019.
  10. ^ Teitz, Liz (June 2, 2018). "Byrd's family: Don't forget him". The Beaumont Enterprise.