Murder of James Craig Anderson

In March 2012, Dedmon, John Rice and Dylan Butler pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and conspiracy charges. In December 2012, William Kirk Montgomery and Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and federal hate crimes for their roles, as well. They were among the 10 indicted for multiple attacks against African Americans in Jackson. On February 10, 2015, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves sentenced Dedmon to 50 years in prison, Rice to .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18+1⁄2 years, and Butler to 7 years for their roles in the hate crime. Their federal sentences run concurrently to additional state ones, with the defendants not eligible for parole.

On February 10, 2015, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi Carlton Reeves sentenced Dedmon to 50 years in prison, Rice to 18+1⁄2 years, and Butler to 7 years for their roles in the hate crimes. Their federal sentences run concurrently to the state ones, and they are not eligible for parole. Dedmon is currently at FTC Oklahoma City with BOP#16507-043, Rice is at FCI McDowell with BOP#16509-043.

Another four of the total of 10 charged with hate crimes were indicted on eight counts in July 2014: John Louis Blalack, Sarah Adelia Graves, Robert Henry Rice, and Shelbie Brooke Richards, all of whom had been with Dedmon and his group the night of the attack against Anderson. All 10 of the conspirators pleaded guilty. Except for Dedmon, they were sentenced to 4–18 years in federal prison.

Anderson's family asked that the perpetrators of the murder be spared the death penalty. Dedmon was convicted of murder in state court in 2012 and sentenced to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment.

The FBI opened an investigation into the crime as a civil rights violation. FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden said on August 17 that the bureau wanted to "determine whether federal civil rights crimes occurred", including hate crimes. Their investigation revealed a larger pattern of attacks against African Americans. From 2012 to 2014, the FBI indicted a total of 10 individuals involved in a conspiracy to commit hate crimes against African Americans in Jackson, including the attack against Anderson. Four other incidents, beginning in the spring of 2011 and extending through March 22, 2012, included the following:

Dedmon entered a plea of not guilty at a preliminary hearing held on September 30. On March 21, 2012, he entered a guilty plea to murder and a federal hate crime charge. He was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences in prison. During his sentencing, Dedmon apologized to Anderson's family.

On March 22, 2012, Dedmon, Rice, and Butler pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and conspiracy charges. On December 4, 2012, Jonathan Gaskamp, Joseph Dominick, and William Montgomery also pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and conspiracy charges. These three had not been with Dedmon and his friends the night of the attack on Anderson.

James Craig Anderson was a 47-year-old African American man who was murdered in a hate crime in Jackson, Mississippi on June 26, 2011, by 18-year-old Deryl Dedmon of Brandon. At the time of his death, Anderson was working on the assembly line at the Nissan plant in Canton, and raising an adopted son with his partner.

The FBI conducted a high-profile civil rights investigation of Anderson's murder; it led to indictments of 10 persons, including Dedmon, for a conspiracy of several hate crimes against African Americans in Jackson committed from the spring of 2011 to March 2012. Anderson's murder was classified as a racially motivated hate crime. Eventually, all 10 persons were indicted for various combinations of these crimes. They each pleaded guilty and received federal sentences.

Initially the case was being investigated locally. Release of the motel video showing Anderson being run over attracted national attention, ultimately resulting in a federal civil rights investigation. On August 14, 2011, about 500 people marched in Jackson from a church to the motel to denounce the "racially motivated hate crime". The group included a mix of "rich/poor, black/white, male/female, gay and straight," according to 75-year-old activist Rims Barber, among them Christian and Jewish clergy. On the Internet a "war of words" ensued as to how the crime should be classified. The subsequent FBI investigation found evidence of a conspiracy by 10 individuals to commit several hate crimes against African Americans in Jackson from the spring of 2011 to 2012. These 10 were indicted, each pleaded guilty, and each was sentenced to federal prison.

With the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, in September 2011 the siblings and mother of James Anderson filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against seven of the group who were involved in the attack on him. Anderson had a 17-year relationship with James Bradfield and was helping him raise a young relative for whom he was guardian. As Mississippi law did not recognize such relationships, Bradfield could not participate in the civil suit.

A group of young white men and women were drinking and partying in the small town of Puckett in Rankin County, Mississippi. According to a lawyer representing one (or more) of the perpetrators, they decided to go buy more beer in a location where stores were open later at night. According to law enforcement officials, veteran police officer Eric Fox of the Jackson Police Department and Deryl Dedmon, an 18-year-old white man from the Jackson suburb of Brandon, Mississippi, led the group in planning to attack blacks in Jackson. They talked about collecting bottles to throw at people. Dedmon said to friends, "Let's go fuck with some niggers." The group split up between Dedmon's green 1998 Ford F-250 truck and a white Jeep Cherokee. They each drove 16 miles (26 km) west on Interstate 20 to a predominantly black area on the western edge of Jackson.