BREAKING: Racist who orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in recent US history has been executed in Texas for the murder of James Byrd Jr. in 1998.
Paul Buck / AFP / Getty Images fileGet breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.John William King — an avowed racist who orchestrated the murder of James Byrd Jr. in one of America's most gruesome hate crimes of the latter 20th century — was executed Wednesday in Texas, authorities said., was pronounced dead by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville at 7:08 p.m., a corrections spokesman said.
Byrd's murder shocked the nation and put a harsh light on race relations in the small town on the Louisiana border. Harris said King's death at the end of a syringe paled in comparison to the unspeakable terror and pain her brother felt as he was being killed.
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