Victim’s Grave Is Desecrated

JASPER, Texas — The tombstone of a black man who was dragged to his death was found broken with an obscenity and racial epithet carved into a metal plate on the bottom of the stone, police said.

“We hoped he could rest in peace,” said Stella Byrd, the mother of 1998 dragging victim James Byrd Jr. “They’ve done enough to him already.”

Two people at the Jasper City Cemetery tending to a relative’s gravesite Thursday afternoon noticed the damage, police said.

The granite headstone was broken from its base, according to station KFDM-TV in Beaumont.

An obscenity and racial epithet were carved into a metal plate on the bottom of the tombstone. Byrd’s name and birth date were engraved on it.

Police Chief Stanley Christopher told the station that the desecration had apparently happened in the last couple of days. The case is being investigated as criminal mischief, he said. There have been no arrests.

Byrd, 49, was beaten by three white men, chained to a truck by his ankles and dragged for about two miles until he was dismembered and decapitated. Two were convicted and sentenced to death; one to life in prison.