Lawrence Russell Brewer
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| “ | As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth. | „ |
| ~ Brewer reflecting on the crime shortly before his execution. |
Lawrence Russell Brewer (March 13, 1967 – September 21, 2011) was an American white supremacist who, alongside fellow white supremacists John William King and Shawn Allen Berry, was one of the three perpetrators of the brutal lynching of African-American man James Byrd, Jr. on June 7, 1998 in Jasper, Texas.
Biography edit
Before the murder edit
Prior to Byrd's murder, Brewer had been member of the Texas chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and had served a prison sentence for drug possession and burglary, and was paroled in 1991. After violating his parole conditions in 1994, Brewer was returned to prison. According to his court testimony, he joined the Confederate Knights of America prison gang with King in order to safeguard himself from other inmates. Brewer and King became friends in the Beto Unit prison.
The murder edit
On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, accepted a ride from Berry, Brewer and King. 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, spray-painted his face, urinated and defecated on him, and chained him by his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for about three miles (five kilometers).
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, when his right arm and head were severed as his body hit a culvert. While almost all of Byrd's ribs were fractured, his brain and skull were found intact, further suggesting that he maintained consciousness while he was being dragged.
Berry, Brewer, and King dumped the mutilated remains of Byrd's 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 included portions of Byrd's remains.
Since Brewer and King were well-known white supremacists, it was determined by state law enforcement officials that the murder was a hate crime. They called upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation less than 24 hours after the discovery of Byrd's remains. The special agent in charge of the FBI's Houston office said that they were assisting because of the case's "extreme circumstances".
Legal proceedings and execution edit
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. A psychiatrist testified that Brewer did not appear repentant for his crimes.
Before his execution, Brewer ordered a last meal that prompted the end of last meal requests in Texas. The meal included two chicken fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapeños; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fully loaded fajitas; a meat-lover's pizza; one pint of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream; a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts on top; and three root beers. When the meal was presented, he told officials that he was not hungry and as a result he did not eat any of it. The meal was discarded, prompting State Senator John Whitmire to ask Texas prison officials to end the 87-year-old tradition of giving last meals to condemned inmates. The prison agency's executive director responded by stating that the practice had been terminated effective immediately.
Brewer, TDCJ#999327, was on death row at the Polunsky Unit, but he was executed in the Huntsville Unit on September 21, 2011.
Legacy edit
The murder of Byrd later became one of the inspirations (alongside the killing of Matthew Shepard) for implementation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009.