Texas Executes Racist Who Dragged Black Man Behind Truck to His Death

Texas Executes Racist Who Dragged Black Man Behind Truck to His Death
John William King. Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP
|Updated:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas—An avowed racist who orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in U.S. history was executed on April 24, in Texas for the dragging death of a black man.

John William King received lethal injection for the slaying nearly 21 years ago of James Byrd Jr., who was chained to the back of a truck and dragged for nearly 3 miles along a secluded road in the piney woods outside Jasper, Texas. The 49-year-old Byrd was alive for at least 2 miles before his body was ripped to pieces in the early morning hours of June 7, 1998.