JASPER -- The gravesite of a black man who was dragged to death in 1998 by three white men was found desecrated Thursday, police said.
An obscenity and racial epithet were carved into a small metal plate on the bottom of the broken tombstone of James Byrd Jr. Byrd's name and birthdate were engraved on the plate.
Jasper Police Chief Stanley Christopher told Beaumont television station KFDM that that the case is being investigated as criminal mischief.
So far no arrests, Christopher said.
Three white men were convicted for Byrd's gruesome death. Two were sent to Texas death row, while the third received a life prison term.
The victim's mother, Stella Byrd, said the family was upset that the gravesite had been disturbed.
"I don't know what to think about it," Mrs. Byrd said. "They've done enough to him already. I don't think it's kids who did this. It's upsetting. We hoped he could rest in peace."
Two people who were at the Jasper City Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, tending to a relative's gravesite, noticed the damage, police said.
The desecration apparently happened in the past couple of days, according to Christopher.
The granite headstone, putting Byrd's date of birth as May 2, 1949, was broken from its base, according to KFDM.
The site has been fingerprinted by Jasper police.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2554593
An obscenity and racial epithet were carved into a small metal plate on the bottom of the broken tombstone of James Byrd Jr. Byrd's name and birthdate were engraved on the plate.
Jasper Police Chief Stanley Christopher told Beaumont television station KFDM that that the case is being investigated as criminal mischief.
So far no arrests, Christopher said.
Three white men were convicted for Byrd's gruesome death. Two were sent to Texas death row, while the third received a life prison term.
The victim's mother, Stella Byrd, said the family was upset that the gravesite had been disturbed.
"I don't know what to think about it," Mrs. Byrd said. "They've done enough to him already. I don't think it's kids who did this. It's upsetting. We hoped he could rest in peace."
Two people who were at the Jasper City Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, tending to a relative's gravesite, noticed the damage, police said.
The desecration apparently happened in the past couple of days, according to Christopher.
The granite headstone, putting Byrd's date of birth as May 2, 1949, was broken from its base, according to KFDM.
The site has been fingerprinted by Jasper police.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2554593