Killer in Jasper hate crime gets Sept. 21 death date

JASPER, TX (KTRK) -- The execution date is now set for one of the men convicted of dragging James Byrd Jr. to death in a racially motivated hate crime 13 years ago.

Byrd's family calls the development it's been waiting for bittersweet. Louvon Harris, who now lives in northwest Harris County, says she expected June 7 -- the 13th anniversary of her brother's murder -- to be yet another with no news. That was until Tuesday when she got an unexpected phone call. Harris has waited 13 years for this day. "Thirteen is a long time," he said. And for this phone call. "She said well I got good news," Harris said. On Tuesday, a judge in Jasper signed an order making September 21 Lawrence Brewer's execution date. He will be the first of two men to die for the racially motivated dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in 1998. Harris is Byrd's sister, and she's been calling the attorney general's office every three months for years. On Tuesday, they called her. "When she called, I felt a little peace, but then sadness, too," Harris said. All the awful details came flooding back -- the torment, the trials, and the worst, that Harris' mother isn't alive to hear the news. Stella Byrd died last October. "It was one of those things that she was concerned, will justice ever be served?" Harris said. In his name, Byrd's family has hoped others learn. "There's only one race and that's the human race and that we got to have different ideas and diversity and we all have one common denominator and we're humans," Harris said. They have carried that message of peace around the country, all while waiting for a punishment to be carried out. Harris now knows where she'll be September 21. "I hope to be there, not because it's going to be a happy occasion, but just to see that justice is done," she said. That justice, she says, is neither swift nor fair. "He'll get a lot better than my brother did. In two to three minutes, a needle go in his arm and he just slips away, and my brother was tormented for three to four hours on the road and was decapitated," Harris said. John William King also got the death penalty. His case is still on appeal. Sean Berry was sentenced to life and he's his most recent appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997. Most of Byrd's family still lives in Jasper. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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