A dragging death is a death caused by someone being dragged behind or underneath a moving vehicle

Vehicle

A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....

, whether accidental or as a deliberate act of murder. If it is homicide, then it is also known as a dragging murder. An infamous example of a dragging murder is that of the black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 American James Byrd, Jr.

James Byrd, Jr.

James Byrd, Jr. was an African-American who was murdered by three white men, asserted to be white supremacists, during a racially motivated crime in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King dragged Byrd behind a pick-up truck along an asphalt road after they...

, who was dragged to death by three white men in Jasper, Texas

Jasper, Texas

Jasper is the county seat of Jasper County, Texas, in the United States. The population was 8,247 at the 2000 census. Jasper is situated in the Deep East Texas subregion, about northeast of Houston. The city is best known for the 1998 murder of James Byrd, Jr., an event which gained national...

 in 1998. The case received extensive publicity around the world as a hate crime

Hate crime

In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...

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List of dragging death victims

• Brandon McClelland
  Brandon McClelland
  Brandon "Big Boy" McClelland was a black man whose death sparked racial controversy in the city of Paris, Texas. On September 16, 2008, McClelland was killed after being run over by a vehicle and dragged beneath it...
  
  
• James Byrd, Jr.
  James Byrd, Jr.
  James Byrd, Jr. was an African-American who was murdered by three white men, asserted to be white supremacists, during a racially motivated crime in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King dragged Byrd behind a pick-up truck along an asphalt road after they...
  
  
• Jake Robel
• Sandra Roberts
• Patricia Stansfield
• Jerid S. Sturman-Camyn
• Ken Tillery
  Ken Tillery
  Ken Tillery of Jasper, Texas, was murdered on January 19, 2002. On the night of his murder, Tillery was outside of a suspected crackhouse when he was approached by three males, Darrell Gilbert, Blake Little, and Anthony Holmes, and offered a ride in their vehicle, an early 80's model Oldsmobile...
  
  
• Luz Maria Franco-Fierros
• João Hélio