Documentary focuses on life of James Byrd Jr.
By BETH GALLASPY The Enterprise

Adocumentary about the life of James Byrd Jr. of Jasper will premiere Thursday on the ninth anniversary of his brutal death in a racially charged dragging behind a pickup that led to three capital murder convictions.

The June 7, 1998, crime and its aftermath drew attention in at least two previous movies. The tragedy inspired the Showtime docudrama "Jasper, Texas" and the PBS documentary "Two Towns of Jasper," both of which debuted in 2003.

The new film, "Byrd: The Life and Tragic Death of James Byrd Jr.," is different because it focuses on Byrd as a person, not just a crime victim, said Ricky Jason of Beaumont, who produced the film with Eric Brown of Atlanta.

"We decided to go into the life of Byrd more so people can know that he was somebody. His death didn't just make him famous," Jason said by telephone.

Jason previously was involved with a documentary titled "The Untold Life Story of James Byrd Jr.," a trailer of which was shown at an event in Beaumont two years ago

The new film "is the next chapter, where we went deeper into his life than we thought we were going to do," Jason said.Byrd was survived by three children, all adults now.

The public screening at Houston Community College-Northwest at 7:30 p.m. Thursday is free.