Lawrence Russell Brewer

(Newser) - A high-profile execution is scheduled to take place in Huntsville, Texas, Wednesday night. John William King, 44, is set to die for the gruesome 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., a black man who was on June 7, 1998, offered a ride home in Jasper. The offer was a ruse:...

(Newser) - Death row inmates in Texas can no longer request special last meals, and they can blame racist killer Lawrence Russell Brewer. Before he was executed this week , Brewer ordered up a Texas-sized feast, according to the Austin American-Statesman : "Two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelet,...

(Newser) - The Troy Davis case isn't the only big capital punishment story making headlines tonight. Texas authorities executed Lawrence Russell Brewer for his role in the brutal death of James Byrd Jr. in 1998, reports AP . Brewer and two other white men chained Byrd, a 49-year-old black man, to the...