The following is Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Scott Rogillio's verbatim account of the events that transpired when Deryl Dedmon and his friends encountered James Craig Anderson in June 2011. The narrative would have provided the basis for the prosecution's case against Dedmon, who pleaded guilty to Anderson's murder this afternoon. Because racial hatred inspired the crime, Dedmon, who is white, received the maximum penalty of two life sentences for his part in a plot to target blacks in Jackson. A word of caution, some of the language in the account is explicit.
On or about June 25, 2011, defendant Deryl Paul Dedmon attended a birthday party celebrated with a bonfire in a field near Puckett, Miss. This birthday party of a friend of the defendant's occurred during the evening hours. Attendees of the party consumed alcohol and at some point during the party, the defendant and others discussed the possibility of going to Jackson to harass and assault African Americans, whom they referred to as niggers.
Others were recruited by the defendant and others to go to "Jafrica," which is a derogatory name referring to the number of African Americans living in the area. Words to the effect of "Let's go #### with some niggers were used." This was not unusual as the defendant had been to Jackson with others in the preceding weeks for the purpose of harassing African Americans.
The harassment at first took the form of verbal assaults then later it escalated to physical encounters. They targeted African American individuals who were sometimes homeless and/or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The purpose was to attack only those who were not likely to resist nor report it to the authorities.
As the party in Puckett broke up, the def agreed to meet with others at the Texaco station on highway 80 in Brandon, Miss. Before traveling to Jackson, four of the individuals drove to Jackson from Brandon in a white four-door Jeep. It was decided that the defendant and two others would go to Jackson in his Ford F-250. The four individuals left ahead of the defendant while he waited on the other two companions to arrive at the Texaco.
The two vehicles maintained cell phone contact. Approximately 4:45 a.m., the individuals in the white Jeep stopped at a Wendy's restaurant on Ellis and highway 80 in Jackson. When they saw Mr. James Craig Anderson, a 47-year-old African American who appeared to be intoxicated, alone and in an adjacent hotel parking lot.
They decided that he would be their target and phoned the defendant who was on his way from Brandon with the other two occupants. The driver of the white Jeep drove his car to the hotel parking lot of the hotel near Mr. Anderson. Two of the occupants got out of the car of the white Jeep to stall Mr. Anderson under the pretense of assisting him, until the defendant arrived.
Upon his arrival, the defendant got out of his truck and approached Mr. Anderson who was engaged in a conversation wit the ones who got out of the white Jeep. The physical assault began when one of the passengers of the white Jeep, unprovoked, hit Mr. Anderson with his fist knocking him to the ground. The defendant then straddled the victim and punched him several times with his fists in the face and head. This lasted for several seconds.
When the assault was over, two individuals from the white Jeep rejoined the other two occupants and drove off. At least one of the occupants of the white Jeep yelled white power as they left. The defendant was on his way back to the truck, raised his fist and he likewise yelled white power.
The defendant then rejoined the other two occupants of the truck and proceeded to leave the hotel parking lot to join the other vehicle, which had already left. The defendant then saw the victim, Mr. Anderson, appear in his headlights just past the exit of the hotel of the side of the road. And the defendant deliberately used his vehicle to run over the victim.
Someone inside the victim's car yelled a racial slur. The autopsy later revealed that the victim died as a result of the serious injuries that he sustained. Almost immediately after the impact, someone inside the ford truck phoned one of the occupants of the other vehicle and stated words to the effect that the defendant just ran that nigger over. At least one witness called 911 and gave a description of the vehicle and members of the Jackson police department arrested the defendant on his way back to Brandon on Interstate 20.
More like this story
More stories by this author
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
