Case 159

James Craig Anderson

*** Content Warning: racial violence ***

When 47-year-old Mississippi resident James Craig Anderson realised he’d locked his keys in his car in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 26 2011, he was thankful when a vehicle pulled up offering to help. But it soon became clear that the occupants were anything but good samaritans. 

What ensues is a modern-day hate crime that divides the residents of Jackson, Mississippi. Investigators work to uncover the truth about the perpetrators’ motivations and to determine whether the colour of James Craig Anderson’s skin played a role in his death. 

CREDITS

 

Casefile Presents

 

EPISODE:

Research – Holly Boyd

Writing – Elsha McGill

Creative direction – Milly Raso

Narration – Anonymous Host

 

MUSIC:

‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com

Audio production – Mike Migas 

Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

 

OTHER:

Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska

 

PREMIUM

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RESOURCES

 

COURT DOCUMENTS

Estate of James C. Anderson v. Deryl Dedmon, Jr., et al., Circuit Court of First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, 6 September 2011, Civil Action No. 11-804-CIV

United States of America v Dylan Wade Butler, Deryl Paul Dedmon & John Aaron Rice, United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division, 21 March 2012, Criminal No. 3:21C134CWR-FKB

Plea Agreement, United States v Sarah Adelia Graves, Criminal No. 3:14cr87-HTW-FKB, 14 November, 2014

Plea Agreement, United States v Robert Henry Rice, Criminal No. 3:14cr87-HTW-FKB, 7 January 2015

A black Mississippi Judge’s breathtaking speech to 3 white murderers – NPR

 

NEWS ARTICLES

Jackson ‘white flight’ slows in last decade – Jackson Free Press 

Daryl Dedmon back in jail – WLBT 

Black man run over, killed in Mississippi hate crime, DA says – News One

Video intensifies interest in a Mississippi killing – New York Times

What James Craig Anderson’s killing means to America – HuffPost

Internet war of words breaks out in Miss. killing – Fox News 

Community stands against racial injustice – Jacks Free Press 

Hundreds remember Mississippi hate crime victim James Anderson – Color Lines 

‘Reverse Racism’: A sad misnomer for a tragic Mississippi murder – Color Lines 

Weighing race and hate in a Mississippi killing – New York Times 

New details in violent Mississippi murder of James Craig Anderson – Color Lines

James Anderson’s partner can’t join family’s wrongful death suit in Mississippi – Color Lines

White teen accused in hate crime killing of black man says he was ‘seeking revenge’ – Color Lines 

Divided we fall: The killing of James Craig Anderson – Jackson Free Press 

Teen accused in James Anderson’s killing linked to other hate crimes – Color Lines 

Life sentence in Mississippi hate crime case – CNN 

Hate crime indictment tells alleged details of attacks – Clarion Ledger 

Two Mississippi women plead guilty to a series of racially motivated assaults on African-Americans – FBI 

Women get maxim sentences in hate crime death – Clarion Ledger

John Louis Blalack sentenced to 20 years in hate crime – Clarion Ledger 

Jackson passes law to help document hate crimes – USA Today

This is what they did for fun: the story of a modern-day lynching – Buzzfeed News 

Four white men ordered to pay $840,000 for Jim Crow-style killing of Mississippi black man – The Washington Post

Before jailing a young woman, a judge puts her mother’s racist views on the stand – The New York Times 

Mississippi state legislature passes bill to remove confederate symbol from state flag in historic vote – CNN

 

STATUES AND CODES

2010 Mississippi Code, Title 97, section 97-3-13

 

VIDEOS

Was Mississippi killing a hate crime? – CNN, Youtube channel 

Exclusive: Metro Inn surveillance video shows attack, slaying –16 WAPT News Jackson YouTube channel

State of Mississippi v Deryl Dedmon, video of guilty plea to charge of murder, and the enhancement to capital murder – KingfishMS, via YouTube

Love and Hate Crime, Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Murder in Mississippi’ – Top Hate Productions, 15 January 2018

 

WEBSITES

Encyclopedia Britannica

The Road to War

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Map USA Project

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Ubuntu Biography Project

The United States Department of Justice

 
 

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