Black History Month – February 24, 1999
James Byrd Jr was a black man who was murdered by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas.
On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, accepted a ride from Shawn Berry (age 23), Lawrence Russell Brewer (age 31), and John King (age 23). Berry, who was driving, was acquainted with Byrd from around town. Instead of taking Byrd home, the three men took Byrd to a remote county road out of town, beat him severely, urinated and defecated on him, and chained him by his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for about 3 miles (4.8 km). Brewer later claimed that Byrd’s throat had been slashed by Berry before he was dragged. However, forensic evidence suggests that Byrd had been attempting to keep his head up while being dragged, and an autopsy suggested that Byrd was alive during much of the dragging. Byrd died about halfway along the route of his dragging after his right arm and head were severed when his body hit a culvert. Byrd’s brain and skull were found intact, further suggesting he maintained consciousness while being dragged.
Berry, Brewer, and King dumped the mutilated remains of the body in front of an African-American church on Huff Creek Road, then drove off to a barbecue. A motorist found Byrd’s decapitated remains the following morning. Along the area where Byrd was dragged, police found a wrench with “Berry” written on it. They also found a lighter that was inscribed with “Possum”, which was King’s prison nickname. The police found 81 places that were littered with Byrd’s remains. State law enforcement officials, along with Jasper’s district attorney, determined that since Brewer and King were well-known white supremacists, the murder was … a hate crime”. King had several racist tattoos, a black man hanging from a tree, Nazi symbols, the words “Aryan Pride”, and the patch for a gang of white supremacist inmates known as the Confederate Knights of America. In a jailhouse letter to Brewer that was intercepted by jail officials, King expressed pride in the crime and said that he realized while committing the murder that he might have to die. “Regardless of the outcome of this, we have made history. Death before dishonor. Sieg Heil!” King wrote. Berry, Brewer, and King were tried and convicted for Byrd’s murder. Brewer and King received the death penalty, while Berry was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer was executed by lethal injection on September 21, 2011, while King remains on Texas’ death row awaiting an April 24, 2019 execution date.
Shawn Berry claimed that Brewer and King were entirely responsible for the crime. Brewer, however, testified that Berry had cut Byrd’s throat before he was tied to the truck. The jury decided that little evidence supported this claim. As a result, Berry was spared the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. As of 2008, Berry was living in protective custody at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Ramsey Unit, and will be first eligible for parole in June 2038.
Lawrence Brewer was a white supremacist, who prior to Byrd’s murder, had served a prison sentence for drug possession and burglary. According to his court testimony, he joined a white supremacist gang with King in prison to safeguard himself from other inmates. He was executed in the Huntsville Unit on September 21, 2011.
John William King was Berry’s longtime friend. He was accused of beating Byrd with a bat and then dragging him behind a pickup truck until he died. King, who prior to the murder had recently been released from a Texas prison, said that he had been repeatedly gang raped in prison by black inmates. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for his role in Byrd’s kidnapping and murder. King remains on death row at the Polunsky Unit. On December 21, 2018, King’s execution by lethal injection was announced to be scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
On February 25 1999, King was sentenced to death. There was no need for commentary on this story. This vile act speaks for itself. May their black hearts be tormented in hell for eternity.
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