Teen gets 27 years in Mississippi killing (intentional, racist hit-and-run)

[alp227]

A Mississippi teenager faces 27 years in prison after running over and killing a man walking along a rural highway in a case the victim's family called a hate crime.

Matthew Darby, 18, pleaded guilty earlier this week to manslaughter in the July 2012 death of 61-year-old Johnny Lee Butts. Companions put Darby at the wheel of the white Chevrolet that hit Butts from behind on a highway in Panola County, about 150 miles north of Jackson.

Butts was black. Two teens who were in the car the morning Butts was killed said they and Darby -- all white -- had been drinking vodka and smoking marijuana all night.

The Monte Carlo hit Butts with such force that the windshield collapsed into the car, bending the steering wheel back sharply. His leg was nearly severed, and his body was found more than 170 feet from where he was struck, according to court records. Investigators estimate the vehicle was traveling somewhere between 55 and 70 mph.

Butts' family told CNN they believed their father was killed because he was black and questioned why the murder charge against Darby didn't reflect that.

full: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/09/justice/mississippi-manslaughter-plea/index.html

[newmember]

1. Driving drunk

No hate crime just a terrible crime of stupidity.
I hate drunk drivers , I hope he dies in prison.

[Politicalboi]

8. I guess you didn't watch the video either

You can see he hit the man on purpose, and bragged about it later.

[leftyohiolib]

15. And certainly not worthy of 27 years - pathetic

[newmember]

28. None here when you choose to drive drunk and stoned and then kill another person

"Jeez, what happened to understanding and compassion for kids??"

[Politicalboi]

7. Did you watch the video

The assholes went out to look for black people to harass. The asshole who hit the man went to McDonald's and told his friends "I hit that N"

Sounds like a hate crime to me.

[Mariana]

14. Well, now you know better.

There are people walking around today who exhibit murderous racial hatred. Some of them are kids. Pretending that's not so just because you wish it wasn't so doesn't improve the situation.

[gollygee]

18. If they'd hunted down and killed someone for racial reasons with something other than a car

would you call it a hate crime?

The fact that they used a car as their weapon of choice doesn't make this any less murder. The fact that they killed him specifically because he was black and later bragged about that shows it was a hate crime.

If they'd seen a black man and shot him with a gun because he was black, would you think that was just a terrible crime of stupidity? If they were drunk when they shot him would that make it just a terrible crime of stupidity?

[zerosumgame0005]

27. IMHO

driving drunk is a crime of hate towards anyone who gets in your drunken way...

[newmember]

29. The hate crime law should be used only for a specific purpose

as in the 2nd video case, that is clearly a hate crime whether
he used a car or a gun , same thing to me.

Choosing to drive drunk is a choice , when you kill another human being because
of your poor choice of getting behind the wheel. You should never be allowed to walk as a free man or woman again.

[exboyfil]

2. He got more years than most vehicular manslaughter charges

No way you are going to try to run over someone in a Monte Carlo at high speed. The penalty seems right.

A family friend was killed when a drag racing kid lost control and crossed the medium. He was out in less than five years. I still think it was not enough time.

[DCKit]

3. His elders should go in with him.

You don't learn that shit in a vacuum.

[Recursion]

4. My family's from Panola county

It gets ugly at times. (Also, "30 miles south of Memphis" is how it's usually described, rather than "150 miles north of Jackson".)

[Niceguy1]

6. they were drunk and stoned

Doesn't sound like race had anything to do with it.

[Junkdrawer]

11. Watch the video n/t

[Niceguy1]

12. and no evidence has been presented

That it was race related. Just because the victim is of another race doesnt automatically mean that race was the motive in the crime.

[Niceguy1]

22. that was a different crime, different

Suspects and they were charged with a hate crime.

In tbis case there was no evidence presented to support such a charge

[Junkdrawer]

23. I see. CNN posted BOTH videos as if they belonged to the same story.....

I'll delete my earlier post.

[CBGLuthier]

17. Reverse the races and it would have been a DP case.

Or he would at least have gotten 45 years since 3/5 of 45 is 27 and I am sure the 3/5 rule is what Mississippi still follows.

[LuvNewcastle]

19. The video of the hit and run is a different case from

the one written about in the article. The accident in the article happened in 2012 in Panola County. The hit and run in the video happened in 2011 in Jackson, which is about 150 miles from Panola County. There isn't any evidence that the accident in the article is a hate crime, but the hit and run in the video was most certainly a hate crime. The driver in the Jackson case got a lot more than 27 years, although I don't remember exactly what the sentence was. This case in Panola County was manslaughter, and 27 years was an appropriate sentence. Intentionally or not, CNN is confusing these cases by posting a video of the hate crime on the same page as this article.

[Junkdrawer]

25. One of the worst pieces of online journalism from a major news outlet EVER....

Certainly confused the hell out of me....

[LuvNewcastle]

26. CNN is a half-assed network, and I think

I'm being charitable by giving them one half.

[geek tragedy]

20. Vehicular lynching. This guy ought to fit in with

the AB. Hope it's unpleasant as possible

[LuvNewcastle]

21. Driver in Jackson hit and run gets two life sentences.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A white teenager pleaded guilty to murder and a hate crime Wednesday for running over a black man with his pickup truck in a killing a judge called a stain on Mississippi that will take years to fade.

Deryl Dedmon, 19, apologized to the victim's family before he received two life sentences for the June 26 death of James Craig Anderson, a 47-year-old car plant worker who loved to sing in his church choir and was remembered for his sense of humor.

Dedmon, a slight, blonde man wearing a blue jumpsuit, looked down as prosecutors described the killing. Dedmon admitted that he and a group of white teens were partying in Puckett, a small town outside the capital city, when he suggested they find a black man to harass and went to Jackson because of its majority-black population. They found Anderson before dawn outside a hotel. He was beaten before Dedmon ran over him.

Prosecutors said Dedmon and others had targeted blacks for harassment before, usually homeless or drunk people who weren't likely to report it to police.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/deryl-dedmon_n_1372184.html

[Junkdrawer]

24. CNN is conflating these two stories.....

there were 2 hit and run crimes....

[JustAnotherGen]

30. Anyone who says THIS

Is NOT a hate crime . . .

when he suggested they find a black man to harass and went to Jackson because of its majority-black population. They found Anderson before dawn outside a hotel. He was beaten before Dedmon ran over him.

Is an idiot.

Thank you for the clarification between the two cases.


Folks like to think that we are just running through the fields like bunnies and fawns, nibbling daisies, and chasing rainbows with shamrocks and gold at the end but that's not WHAT America is.

The Hate Crimes legislation/laws exists for a reason -hateful people kill, maim, injure others for WHAT they are - not because they are a random victim.

The man in what you linked was beaten and killed via vehicle for WHAT he was. Black. Nothing more. Nothing less. Let that little sob rot.