WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Lawrence Brewer was one of three men who carried out the brutal hate crime murder of James Byrd Junior and was executed in Texas for the crime – but not before one final harrowing act
He was a brutal killer who claimed the life of a man simply because of the colour of his skin.
Lawrence Brewer was one of three men, along with Shawn Berry and John King, who launched a savage and harrowing attack on James Byrd Junior.
The victim was 49 when he was brutally murdered by the three men, two of them who were white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas in 1998. On June 7, James had accepted a lift from Shawn Berry, who was just 22 at the time. In the car with him were Brewer, then 31, and King, then 23.
Berry knew James as they both lived in the town but instead of taking him home the three men carried out an act of such violence it was leave the whole country appalled.
Taking James out of town and to a remote country road, they savagely beat him before tying a chain to his ankles and to the back of their pickup truck. Then then dragged him behind the truck for three miles. Brewer claims he slit James’ throat before the hellish journey began but horrifying forensic evidence showed the victim had been desperately trying to keep his head off the ground as he was dragged along.
It is thought he only succumbed to his injuries about half-way through the journey when his right arm and head were severed when his body hit a culvert. In addition, almost all of his ribs were fractured. When his head was discovered his brain and skull were still in tact, which lead forensic experts to believe he was still conscious as he was being dragged behind the pickup truck.
His killers then dumped his torso in front of a Black cemetery and heartlessly left the scene to head to a BBQ. James’ body wasn’t discovered until the following morning by a passing motorist. Close by police discovered a wrench with the word ‘Berry’ written on it and a lighter with the word ‘Possum’ written on it, which was King’s nickname while he was in prison.
Chillingly, officers discovered James’ remains in 81 locations and the harrowing killing was quickly labelled a hate crime and the FBI were called in to help with the investigation.
All three killers, Berry, Brewer and King, were arrested, tried and convicted for James’ murder, with King and Brewer sentenced to death while King was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Before Brewer’s execution on September 21, 2011, he requested a lavish final meal. He asked for two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover’s pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts.
However, he had one final chilling act to commit. After being presented with his final meal on earth, the brutal killer refused to eat a single mouthful. The act changed everything for those waiting to be executed on Texas’ death row – no last meal would ever be offered again.
Senator John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate criminal justice committee, said afterwards: “It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege.”
Instead inmates on the day before their death will now be served the same as all other inmates. After the ruling was passed, Whitmire said: “It’s long overdue. This old boy last night, enough is enough. We’re fixing to execute the guy and maybe it makes the system feel good about what they’re fixing to do. Kind of hypocritical, you reckon? Mr Byrd didn’t get to choose his last meal. The whole deal is so illogical.”
King was executed on April 24, 2019, while Brewer remains behind bars. He spends 23 hours per day in a cell measuring 8 by 6 feet, with one hour for exercise.
In an incredible act of forgiveness Ross Byrd, James Byrd’s only son, is now involved in Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, an organisation opposed to capital punishment and he even campaigned to spare the lives of the men who had killed his father.
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