Deryl Dedmon Pleads Guilty In Mississippi Hate Crime Hit-And-Run Of James Craig Anderson

By Kyle McGovern, Huffington Post

Deryl Dedmon, who went looking with friends for a black man to hurt and killed James Craig Anderson
Deryl Dedmon, who went looking with friends for a black man to hurt–and killed James Craig Anderson.

Dedmon, 19, admitted that he and a group of white teens were partying in Puckett, a small town outside the capital city, when he suggested they find a black man to harass and went to Jackson because of its majority-black population. They found Anderson before dawn outside a hotel. He was beaten before Dedmon ran over him with his pickup truck, an act caught on the hotel surveillance camera. Prosecutors said Dedmon and others had targeted blacks for harassment before, usually homeless or drunk people who weren’t likely to report it to police.

The victim’s sister, Barbara Anderson Young, fought back tears when she addressed the court. She asked that the death penalty notbe given to her brother’s murderer.

“We, the Anderson family, are praying for racial reconciliation not just in Mississippi but all over this land and country. We are praying for the defendant, Dedmon, and his family that they find peace.”

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A decade later, hate crimes continue in Mississippi.

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