JACKSON – (AP) The case of a white teenager from Brandon charged with running down a black man with a truck in what authorities have called a hate crime will be the subject of hearing Wednesday, March 21.
Deryl Paul Dedmon, 19, is charged with capital murder in the death of 49-year-old James Craig Anderson, who was run over on a Jackson street June 26, 2011, in an act that was captured on a surveillance video from a nearby hotel.
Dedmon’s lawyer, Cynthia Stewart, wouldn’t say on Friday what the hearing is about. District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith wouldn’t say either.
The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m., on the first floor of the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson. Circuit Judge Jeff Weill Sr. will preside.
Previous hearings had been scheduled on whether to move the trial out of Hinds County, home to the majority-black capital city. It wasn’t clear if that’s what this hearing would be about.
The FBI also has been investigating the case.
Authorities said seven white teens were partying into the early morning hours the day of Anderson’s death when Dedmon suggested they find a black man to mess with. Police say Anderson was beaten before Dedmon ran him down before dawn near a hotel on Ellis Avenue.
One other teenager, John Aaron Rice, is charged in the case. He is charged with simple assault because a judge reduced the count from murder after a detective testified that Rice left the scene in another car before Anderson died.
The case has been the subject of dozens of local and national news stories and received widespread attention after a video of Anderson’s death was obtained by news organizations, including the AP.
The video, taken by a hotel surveillance camera, shows a white Jeep Cherokee in which Rice was allegedly a passenger leaving a hotel parking lot at 5:05 a.m. Less than 20 seconds later, a Ford truck backs up and then lunges forward. Anderson’s shirt is illuminated in the headlights before he disappears under the vehicle next to the curb. Police say Dedmon was driving the truck and later bragged that he ran over Anderson, using a racial slur to describe him.
Dedmon is charged with capital murder, which in Mississippi is defined as murder committed along with another felony. It carries the sentences of death or life in prison without parole. The underlying offense in this case is robbery. Dedmon also was charged under Mississippi’s hate crime law, which provides for tougher sentences.
Anderson’s family has asked prosecutors not to pursue the death penalty, saying they’re opposed to capital punishment. Anderson’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against all seven teens, including two young girls who were allegedly in the truck with Dedmon.
Rice has been free on a $5,000 bond. Dedmon has been held without bail.
Be the first to comment