lulu
05-09-2003, 02:37 PM
The brutal murder of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, 5 years ago was this
country's most notorious racial crime in decades.
Byrd, a black man, was beaten, chained to the back of a pickup truck and
dragged to his death on a dark country road. Only one person who was there
that night has ever spoken publicly about the crime. His name is Shawn
Berry, and he told CBS News his story in September 1999.
Just a few weeks ago, Berry met with the son of his victim. And for the
1st time, he gave Byrd's family a firsthand account of their father's
horrible death.
Dan Rather talks with Renee and Ross Byrd about their meeting with the man
who helped kill their father, and the terrifying story of the night James
Byrd Jr. died.
The road is quiet now. But 5 years ago, one horrible summer night, a strip
of pavement along a country road became a symbol of fear, hate and pain.
"What happened out there is the worse thing I ever heard of. And there was
nothing to prepare anybody for it, anybody," says Berry. "But I've never
been so scared. I couldn't move. I've never seen anybody get stomped on,
beat up. And they looked like they were just having a happy time while
they were doing it."
Berry says it all began innocently. When he and his 2 companions picked up
Byrd, a 49-year-old father of 3.
"I asked him if he wanted to go home, and he said he'd just ride around
with us for a little while," remembers Berry. "Mr. Byrd asked me where we
were going, and I said, 'We're just riding. We're going to ride down this
road, turn around and come back out.'"
Byrd did not make it out alive.
Berry says he was killed by the other 2 men in the truck - Bill King and
Russell Brewer.
"They ran around the side and they opened up Mr. Byrd's door and tried to
pull him out. Well, he was hanging on the door with both hands to keep
from, trying to keep himself inside the truck," says Berry.
"I'm going to tell you what was said. I don't feel comfortable talking
about, saying it, but I'm going to tell you what was said. Mr. Byrd was
fighting, trying to keep himself in the truck, and Bill said, '[censored]
it, let's kill this nigger.'"
Why should anyone believe his version of the story?
"The only thing I can do is tell you what happened," says Berry.
The jury that heard Berry's case believed at least part of his story. Bill
King and Russell Brewer received the death penalty. Shawn Berry was given
his life, but little else. He won't eligible for parole until the year
2039.
If he could talk to the Byrd family, what would he say to them now? What
could he say?
"Most important, I mean, I'm sorry. I'm sorry it happened, and I wish I'd
have just jumped right in the middle and tried to do more to help him,"
says Berry. "The only thing a guy could say to them is, 'I'm sorry I
couldn't help him more. I'm sorry I didn't.'"
Berry was behind bars for almost 5 years before he was able to talk with
the family of the man he helped murder. Recently, outside the prison where
Berry has been held since his trial, Byrd's children Ross and Renee met
with Berry's brother, Lewis.
"He's waited a long time for this meeting, and I think it's something that
he's been counting the days for," says Berry's brother, Lewis. "He wants
to tell them what he saw and what happened and what went on. And answer
questions they might have."
For Byrd's children, Ross and Renee, the meeting triggered painful
memories of the moment they learned about their father's death.
"I was baffled. I couldn't understand it," says Byrd's daughter, Renee. "I
didn't want to believe it. I thought it was a mistaken identity or
something. I was in denial."
"I kind of had an out-of-body experience. Because being an oldest child,
you want to protect your parents, under any circumstances. I felt that I
betrayed my dad because I couldn't help him when he was scared and
isolated and I just felt bad that I wasn't there and I couldn't protect
him. He had been ripped from my life."
Ross was stationed in the Army in Fort Benning, Ga., when he heard about
his father's murder.
"I thought he'd been shot," remembers Ross, who at first didn't know how
his father was killed.
"That reaction is a reaction I don't want nobody to ever endure. You know,
because in my shoes, I'm fighting for my country and the country is out
here killing my father. You know, that took a toll on me for a while
because I didn't really speak on it at all. I kept a bunch of stuff
bottled up. I couldn't attend the trial or anything and I just really had
to find myself."
Ross says talking with Berry helped him find himself, and find some peace.
"I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to hear it come out of his
mouth. You know, of what happened that night and that's basically it,"
says Ross. "I wanted to know what happened. It was something in me that
wanted to know."
Inside the prison, Ross heard the same story from Berry that we did in
September 1999. Berry says he was horrified and helpless as he watched
King and Brewer pull Byrd from the truck.
"I got in between Bill and him, and I told Bill, 'Stop.' And he said this,
you know, 'Back off, the same thing can happen to a nigger lover,'"
remembers Berry. "And it scared me. I mean, that's the only feeling I had.
I mean, it scared me. I didn't know what was, I didn't know what was going
on. I never saw anything like that, so I backed away."
"They grabbed him and took him to the back of the truck, and Byrd was
pretty drunk. He was very drunk. It wasn't, you know, there wasn't no
problem for them to get him to the ground. I don't know if they pushed him
or what, but he wound up on the ground, and Bill was stomping him with the
bottom of his foot," says Berry.
"He was wearing sandals. He was stomping him with the bottom of his foot,
and Russell was kicking, like straight outward, like you'd kick a football
or something. And they were laughing and joking and acting like they were
having a good time."
"He was down, but he was on all fours. They started kicking on him, and
Russell got a can of spray paint out of the back, and he sprayed him in
the face. Mr. Byrd didn't say anything. He was still on all fours, and
Russell kicked him hard in the head somewhere. And that was the last time
I saw him move."
Berry says he heard the chain being dragged out of the back of his truck.
"I was petrified. I couldn't move. I mean, I've never saw anything like
that happen before," says Berry. "When Russell kicked him and he didn't
move anymore, I wet my pants."
Berry says he didn't say anything. He couldn't see Byrd, and he says he
didn't know what was going on. "I didn't know what to think. I never saw
them chain him up. I don't know how he was chained or where he was
chained."
Soon after, King and Brewer joined Berry in his truck. King was in the
driver's seat, Russell by the door on the passenger side. "They started
dragging him down that dirt road," says Berry.
The truck was so loud that Berry says he couldn't hear anything.
"Russell had looked back one time and started laughing and said, 'Look,
he's rolling" or "He's bouncing around all over the place,' remembers
Berry. "They were having fun. They were acting like they were having just
a good old time."
The truck careened around a bend, and Byrd's body swung off the road,
striking a culvert that decapitated him. Berry says King kept driving. "He
turned around and drove on out and drove for a little ways, and stopped
the truck and got out and untied him," says Berry. "He threw the chain in
the back of the truck and got back in."
In their prison meeting, Berry and Byrd's son Ross talked for 2 hours.
What was Ross' first reaction? "When I seen him in, I pictured myself
right there where he was at, to be honest with you."
Did he believe Berry, that he couldn't do anything to help Ross' father?
"I told him that he should have helped," says Ross. "I also told him that
the only person who really knows what happened is the 3 men who was there,
James Byrd and God."
Ross says that he and the man convicted of helping murder his father
prayed together.
When I walked in the building, that's the first thing he did. He wanted to
pray, and you know, I respect him for that," says Ross. "I respect him for
saying that he was sorry."
In the years since her father's death, Renee Mullins has become an
advocate for hate crimes legislation. And both of the Byrd children are
now fighting the death penalty, even in the cases of their father's
killers.
"I would like them to think about it every day myself," says Ross. "You
know, give them 40 years. Give them life in prison without parole, and let
them think about it. Maybe they can change their ways."
"You got to watch who you be around, you have to know the content of the
character of the people you are hanging around. The only thing I know in
this life is that we make our own decisions and I know he decided to pick
up James Byrd that night."
It took 5 years, trials and countless tears before Byrd's children could
hear firsthand what had happened to their father - from a young man
sentenced to life in prison and a lifetime of regret.
"I wish I'd have been able to help him," says Berry. "I wish I wouldn't
have chickened out - I think I let a lot of people down."
Source: CBS
country's most notorious racial crime in decades.
Byrd, a black man, was beaten, chained to the back of a pickup truck and
dragged to his death on a dark country road. Only one person who was there
that night has ever spoken publicly about the crime. His name is Shawn
Berry, and he told CBS News his story in September 1999.
Just a few weeks ago, Berry met with the son of his victim. And for the
1st time, he gave Byrd's family a firsthand account of their father's
horrible death.
Dan Rather talks with Renee and Ross Byrd about their meeting with the man
who helped kill their father, and the terrifying story of the night James
Byrd Jr. died.
The road is quiet now. But 5 years ago, one horrible summer night, a strip
of pavement along a country road became a symbol of fear, hate and pain.
"What happened out there is the worse thing I ever heard of. And there was
nothing to prepare anybody for it, anybody," says Berry. "But I've never
been so scared. I couldn't move. I've never seen anybody get stomped on,
beat up. And they looked like they were just having a happy time while
they were doing it."
Berry says it all began innocently. When he and his 2 companions picked up
Byrd, a 49-year-old father of 3.
"I asked him if he wanted to go home, and he said he'd just ride around
with us for a little while," remembers Berry. "Mr. Byrd asked me where we
were going, and I said, 'We're just riding. We're going to ride down this
road, turn around and come back out.'"
Byrd did not make it out alive.
Berry says he was killed by the other 2 men in the truck - Bill King and
Russell Brewer.
"They ran around the side and they opened up Mr. Byrd's door and tried to
pull him out. Well, he was hanging on the door with both hands to keep
from, trying to keep himself inside the truck," says Berry.
"I'm going to tell you what was said. I don't feel comfortable talking
about, saying it, but I'm going to tell you what was said. Mr. Byrd was
fighting, trying to keep himself in the truck, and Bill said, '[censored]
it, let's kill this nigger.'"
Why should anyone believe his version of the story?
"The only thing I can do is tell you what happened," says Berry.
The jury that heard Berry's case believed at least part of his story. Bill
King and Russell Brewer received the death penalty. Shawn Berry was given
his life, but little else. He won't eligible for parole until the year
2039.
If he could talk to the Byrd family, what would he say to them now? What
could he say?
"Most important, I mean, I'm sorry. I'm sorry it happened, and I wish I'd
have just jumped right in the middle and tried to do more to help him,"
says Berry. "The only thing a guy could say to them is, 'I'm sorry I
couldn't help him more. I'm sorry I didn't.'"
Berry was behind bars for almost 5 years before he was able to talk with
the family of the man he helped murder. Recently, outside the prison where
Berry has been held since his trial, Byrd's children Ross and Renee met
with Berry's brother, Lewis.
"He's waited a long time for this meeting, and I think it's something that
he's been counting the days for," says Berry's brother, Lewis. "He wants
to tell them what he saw and what happened and what went on. And answer
questions they might have."
For Byrd's children, Ross and Renee, the meeting triggered painful
memories of the moment they learned about their father's death.
"I was baffled. I couldn't understand it," says Byrd's daughter, Renee. "I
didn't want to believe it. I thought it was a mistaken identity or
something. I was in denial."
"I kind of had an out-of-body experience. Because being an oldest child,
you want to protect your parents, under any circumstances. I felt that I
betrayed my dad because I couldn't help him when he was scared and
isolated and I just felt bad that I wasn't there and I couldn't protect
him. He had been ripped from my life."
Ross was stationed in the Army in Fort Benning, Ga., when he heard about
his father's murder.
"I thought he'd been shot," remembers Ross, who at first didn't know how
his father was killed.
"That reaction is a reaction I don't want nobody to ever endure. You know,
because in my shoes, I'm fighting for my country and the country is out
here killing my father. You know, that took a toll on me for a while
because I didn't really speak on it at all. I kept a bunch of stuff
bottled up. I couldn't attend the trial or anything and I just really had
to find myself."
Ross says talking with Berry helped him find himself, and find some peace.
"I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to hear it come out of his
mouth. You know, of what happened that night and that's basically it,"
says Ross. "I wanted to know what happened. It was something in me that
wanted to know."
Inside the prison, Ross heard the same story from Berry that we did in
September 1999. Berry says he was horrified and helpless as he watched
King and Brewer pull Byrd from the truck.
"I got in between Bill and him, and I told Bill, 'Stop.' And he said this,
you know, 'Back off, the same thing can happen to a nigger lover,'"
remembers Berry. "And it scared me. I mean, that's the only feeling I had.
I mean, it scared me. I didn't know what was, I didn't know what was going
on. I never saw anything like that, so I backed away."
"They grabbed him and took him to the back of the truck, and Byrd was
pretty drunk. He was very drunk. It wasn't, you know, there wasn't no
problem for them to get him to the ground. I don't know if they pushed him
or what, but he wound up on the ground, and Bill was stomping him with the
bottom of his foot," says Berry.
"He was wearing sandals. He was stomping him with the bottom of his foot,
and Russell was kicking, like straight outward, like you'd kick a football
or something. And they were laughing and joking and acting like they were
having a good time."
"He was down, but he was on all fours. They started kicking on him, and
Russell got a can of spray paint out of the back, and he sprayed him in
the face. Mr. Byrd didn't say anything. He was still on all fours, and
Russell kicked him hard in the head somewhere. And that was the last time
I saw him move."
Berry says he heard the chain being dragged out of the back of his truck.
"I was petrified. I couldn't move. I mean, I've never saw anything like
that happen before," says Berry. "When Russell kicked him and he didn't
move anymore, I wet my pants."
Berry says he didn't say anything. He couldn't see Byrd, and he says he
didn't know what was going on. "I didn't know what to think. I never saw
them chain him up. I don't know how he was chained or where he was
chained."
Soon after, King and Brewer joined Berry in his truck. King was in the
driver's seat, Russell by the door on the passenger side. "They started
dragging him down that dirt road," says Berry.
The truck was so loud that Berry says he couldn't hear anything.
"Russell had looked back one time and started laughing and said, 'Look,
he's rolling" or "He's bouncing around all over the place,' remembers
Berry. "They were having fun. They were acting like they were having just
a good old time."
The truck careened around a bend, and Byrd's body swung off the road,
striking a culvert that decapitated him. Berry says King kept driving. "He
turned around and drove on out and drove for a little ways, and stopped
the truck and got out and untied him," says Berry. "He threw the chain in
the back of the truck and got back in."
In their prison meeting, Berry and Byrd's son Ross talked for 2 hours.
What was Ross' first reaction? "When I seen him in, I pictured myself
right there where he was at, to be honest with you."
Did he believe Berry, that he couldn't do anything to help Ross' father?
"I told him that he should have helped," says Ross. "I also told him that
the only person who really knows what happened is the 3 men who was there,
James Byrd and God."
Ross says that he and the man convicted of helping murder his father
prayed together.
When I walked in the building, that's the first thing he did. He wanted to
pray, and you know, I respect him for that," says Ross. "I respect him for
saying that he was sorry."
In the years since her father's death, Renee Mullins has become an
advocate for hate crimes legislation. And both of the Byrd children are
now fighting the death penalty, even in the cases of their father's
killers.
"I would like them to think about it every day myself," says Ross. "You
know, give them 40 years. Give them life in prison without parole, and let
them think about it. Maybe they can change their ways."
"You got to watch who you be around, you have to know the content of the
character of the people you are hanging around. The only thing I know in
this life is that we make our own decisions and I know he decided to pick
up James Byrd that night."
It took 5 years, trials and countless tears before Byrd's children could
hear firsthand what had happened to their father - from a young man
sentenced to life in prison and a lifetime of regret.
"I wish I'd have been able to help him," says Berry. "I wish I wouldn't
have chickened out - I think I let a lot of people down."
Source: CBS