ABSTRACT
June 7, 1998, Jasper, Texas. James Byrd Jr, a 49-year-old African American, is walking home from a niece’s bridal shower. A pickup truck driven by a white male and carrying two other white men draws alongside him. Byrd accepts a ride and jumps inside the vehicle. But, instead of driving Byrd home, the men take him to a wooded area, beat him, chain him behind the truck and speed down a bumpy road, dragging his body. Byrd’s severed head, neck and right arm are discovered about a mile from where his shredded torso is dumped. A trail of blood, body parts and personal effects stretches for two miles.
