(CNN) A man who helped carry out the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. -- one of the most horrific hate crimes in modern American history -- was executed by injection on Wednesday evening in a Texas prison. Ricky Jason, a friend of Ross Byrd's, wears a photo of James Byrd before Russell Brewer's execution. While most murders are brutal, the viciousness of Byrd's killing shocked the world. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was executed for Byrd's killing in 2011. King was the third prisoner executed in Texas this year, after cop killer Robert Mitchell Jennings and triple murderer Billie Wayne Coble.

Source: CNN April 24, 2019 20:40 UTC