Early on the morning of June 7th, 1998, Shawn Berry was driving around Jasper, Texas with his two white supremacist friends, Bill King and Russell Brewer. Jasper resident James Byrd Jr. was walking home from a party when he passed this restaurant, Casa Ole, a short distance from his house. Shawn Berry offered James Byrd Jr. a ride, which according to the police report, "upset Bill King".

James Byrd Jr. got in the flatbed of the truck, but Berry and his friends didn't drive him home. They drove to a convenience store where Bill King took over the steering wheel.

According to testimony, the four drove out of town to the east, down County Road 278 (Huff Creek Road). King pulled over the truck on a sandy spur and began violently assaulting James Byrd Jr. with Brewer, while Berry ran a short distance away.

King and Brewer punched, kicked and spray-painted James Byrd Jr. before tying him by his ankles to the bumper of the truck with a chain. After retrieving Shawn Berry, the three men proceeded to drag Byrd behind their truck for three miles down Huff Creek Road.

At 9am that morning, Byrd's body (minus the head and right arm) were found at the entrance of the town's segregated cemetery, in front of Huff Creek Memorial Church. His head and arm were located later that morning, a mile from this location.

The three men responsible for the crime were all convicted, in separate trials. Bill King and Russell Brewer are on death row. Shawn Berry was sentenced to life in prison.

After the murder, the town debated renaming its community center after James Byrd, Jr. When the debate was over, the name stayed the same.