James Byrd Jr murder: White supremacist John William King executed for dragging black man to death with truck

John William King is the fourth person to be executed in the US this year
EPA
Rebecca Speare-Cole25 April 2019

One of three men behind a notorious hate crime in Texas has been put to death by lethal injection 21 years after he dragged a black man behind a truck for nearly three miles until he died.

John William King, 44, along with Shawn Berry and Lawrence Brewer, was accused of targeting hitch-hiker James Byrd Jr because of his skin colour, prosecutors had said.

Mr Byrd, 49, was chained to the back of their 1982 Ford pickup truck and dragged along a road near Jasper, Texas on 7 June 1998 before his remains were dumped in front of an Africa-American church.

A “KKK” engraved lighter was among the evidence police found at the scene, court documents revealed.

King was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7.08pm (0008 GMT) on Thursday at the state death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement.

Sheriff Billy Rowles and Texas Ranger Ronnie McBride escort King, 24, through a Jasper County Courtroom
Reuters

The 44-year-old, who was in his early 20's in 1998 when he committed the crime, refused to look at witnesses to his execution before his death.

King also refused to make a statement to those present, which included members of Mr Byrd’s family.

However, in a statement released afterwards he said: “Capital punishment: them without the capital get the punishment.”

Byrd's sister Carla Taylor read from a family statement after she, another of his sisters and his niece witnessed the execution.

King's "execution tonight was just punishment for his actions," she said, noting that Byrd had three children and four grandchildren.

"James' legacy continues to be of peace and non-violence."

Brewer, also a white supremacist, was executed in 2011, while Berry was sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

King always maintained his innocence, saying that he left the two other men before Byrd was killed.

The gruesome killing spurred the passing of the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, strengthening punishments for hate crimes in Texas.

Betty Boatner, a sister of James Byrd Jr., talks to the crowd during a prayer vigil at James Byrd Memorial Park in Jasper
AP

The murder, along with that of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten and left to die tied to a fence, was also the genesis of the federal hate crimes prevention act passed in 2009.

King was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1999.

He had racist tattoos on his body including one of a black man being hung from a tree and was a member of a white supremacist gang and spoke of starting a race war while in prison for a previous crime.

He also talked about initiating new members by having them kidnap and murder black people, court documents showed.

King was the third inmate in Texas and the fourth in the US to be executed this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

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