16 November 2023 , 17:19
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Inmates on death row in Texas are not granted the opportunity to request a final meal before their execution, and it's all because of the actions of one man.
White supremacist Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was one of three men jailed for the murder of James Byrd Jr on June 7, 1998, in the East Texas town of Jasper. On that fateful day, Mr Byrd, who was Black, was dragged to his death after being chained by the ankles to the back of a pickup truck and dragged behind it for three miles.
John William King, Shawn Allen Berry, and Lawrence Russell Brewer had all spent time in prison for various convictions prior to the murder of Mr Byrd. Berry and King had been friends since high school, and while in prison, King met Brewer, who had been in and out of prison since 1987.
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Just weeks before Mr Byrd's brutal death, Brewer had travelled to Jasper and moved into King's apartment. Both Brewer and King had associations with a white supremacy group while in prison and had left covered in numerous racist tattoos.
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On June 7, 1998, Mr Byrd had spent the day with friends and family in Jasper, across town from his apartment. As he walked home that day, Berry, Brewer and King stopped to offer him a lift, which he accepted. Witnesses saw Mr Byrd walking on a road not far from his home at around 2.30am on June 7, with the last sighting of him putting him in the back of a pickup truck with the three men inside.
Lawrence Russell Brewer is led from the Jasper County courthouse following a change of venue hearing in his capital murder trial (AP)
Lawrence Russell Brewer listens to the guilty verdict being read in his capital murder trial at the Brazos County Courthouse in Bryan, Texas (AP)The three men had been driving around Jasper in Berry's pickup truck for most of the evening, drinking beer and looking for young women. But, instead of taking Mr Byrd home, the three drove east out of Jasper and stopped at a small clearing in the woods.
Here, it's said a fight broke out, with investigators finding upturned grass, disturbed dirt and a broken beer bottle at the scene. In the clearing, the men beat Mr Byrd, with Brewer spraying his face with black paint.
After beating and torturing 49-year-old Mr Byrd, who authorities describe as "handicapped", the three men tied Mr Byrd to the truck's bumper by his ankles using a 24-foot logging chain. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: "Brewer and his co-defendants then dragged the victim to his death, leaving his decapitated and dismembered body to be found the following day by citizens and law enforcement officials."
Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the chain allegedly used to drag James Byrd Jr. to his death during a break in the trial of Lawrence Russell Brewer (ASSOCIATED PRESS)It's believed Mr Byrd was dragged roughly three miles before being dumped between a church and cemetery where the pavement ended on a remote road. Investigators found his personal items scattered along the dirt trail and pavement before his body was discovered in a gruesome state.
His body had apparently bounced into a ditch on the side of the road, hitting the ragged edge of a drainage ditch just below his arm. It's said the impact of this severed the arm, shoulder, neck and head from the rest of the body, which continued to be dragged for another mile.
It's not known how long Mr Byrd remained alive during the horrific dragging, but Brewer claimed that his throat had been slashed before he was dragged. Forensic evidence suggested Mr Byrd had been attempting to keep his head up, while an autopsy suggested he had been alive for much of the three miles, dying only after his body was severed when it hit the concrete drainage ditch.
Berry, Brewer and King were in custody by the end of the next day. Brewer and King were convicted of capital murder and sent to death row, while Berry received a life prison term. Brewer and King were the first white men to receive the death penalty for killing a black man in modern Texas, causing the state to introduce new laws around hate crimes.
Louvon Harris, left, covers her face as Clara Taylor, right, both sisters of James Byrd Jr, looks back while answering a question after witnessing the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer (AP)It was argued in court that Brewer, Berry and King carried out their heinous criminal act "in part, due to their racially separatist affiliation with the Confederate Knights of America and the Ku Klux Klan", according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. After Mr Byrd's murder, a search of King's apartment turned up a copy of the white supremacists' manifesto 'The Turner Diaries' and similar literature, indicating a connection with the white supremacist groups.
Before his execution, Brewer was asked what he would like for his last meal. He took full advantage of the endless possibilities for his final spread and placed an order of mammoth proportions ahead of his execution on September 21, 2011.
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Brewer is said to have ordered: two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy with sliced onions; a triple bacon cheeseburger with fixings on the side; a cheese omelette with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers and jalapenos; a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbeque meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas with all the trimmings; a Meat Lovers pizza; one pint of vanilla ice cream; a slab of peanut butter fudge; and three root beers.
Louvon Harris, left, covers her face as Clara Taylor, right, both sisters of James Byrd Jr, looks back while answering a question after witnessing the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer (AP)Guards did their best to present Brewer with everything on his final meal list, but, when the inmate was presented with his enormous spread, he is said to have refused it. Despite ordering enough to feed a party, Brewer refused to eat a single mouthful, saying he wasn't hungry.
His refusal of the meal caused Texas senator John Whitmire to end the 87-year tradition, meaning from that day forward, nobody on death row in Texas has had a last meal request granted. Writing to the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Division, Senator Whitmire said he had long opposed the last meal practice, saying: "Enough is enough".
He called the last meal request an "extremely inappropriate" privilege, "one which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim". Brewer was executed via lethal injection on September 21, 2011, having spent the last 12 years of his life on death row. Speaking to a local media outlet before his death, he said his execution would be a "good out" and he's "glad it's about to come to an end".
Asked if he had any final words, he replied: "No. I have no final statement", as a single tear hung on the edge of his right eye. He was pronounced dead at 6.21 pm, 10 minutes after the lethal concoction of drugs began flowing into his arms, which were covered in intricate tattoos.