Nightline: Savage Death in a Small Town

Feb. 8, 2001 -- Brenda Warren never thought she would have to worry about her son J.R.'s safety in their small town of Grant Town, West Virginia.

But on July 4, police officers visited Brenda Warren to inform her that her 26-year-old severely learning disabled son was an apparent victim of a hit-and-run accident. But Warren would soon find out much more about the circumstances of her son's death.

Independence Day

Late in the evening on July 3, 2000, Warren was on one of his typical walks in the neighborhood and stopped by to see three acquaintances painting a house. David Parker and Jared Wilson, both 17, and Jason Shoemaker, 15, had apparently been drinking and taking drugs over the course of the evening. The late-night meeting became strained after Parker accused Warren of spreading rumors that they had a sexual relationship. An argument ensued after Warren discovered the teenagers stole $20 from his wallet. The situation quickly deteriorated.

In the early hours of the Fourth of July, Parker and Wilson, who were wearing steel-toed boots, savagely punched and kicked Warren repeatedly. The suspects then threw his bloodied body in the trunk of a Chevy Camaro and drove off. According to Shoemaker's testimony, Warren climbed from the back of the hatchback and asked the boys repeatedly to take him home. Instead, they stopped and dumped Warren on the side of the road. In an apparent attempt to make the incident look like a hit and run, they proceed to run Warren over, not once, but several times. Shoemaker, who witnessed the killing but claims he did not participate, told his mother about the incident, and then she notified the police.

Parker and Wilson, now 18, are being charged as adults with first-degree murder and face the possibility of life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors allege that Warren was killed because he told others about a sexual relationship he had with Parker. In a pretrial hearing in late September, Parker's confession read: "I beat him up real bad. J.R. had been making advances to me and telling people he had a sexual relationship with me."

The savage killing caught the attention of the media and human rights groups. When a gay, black man is gruesomely killed allegedly by white teenagers in a small town, everything seems to suggest a hate crime. But some residents of Grant Town say it's more complicated than that.

Why Now?

Marion County Sheriff Ron Watkins points out that Warren had for years known the boys accused of murdering him. "Why didn't they do it long before this?" asked Watkins. "If they hated him so bad, why did they socialize with him? … No, I don't believe it was a hate crime … I see a brutal, vicious murder."

But Jessie Jones, a black resident, believes that "if it had been two black boys that killed a white boy, they would have brought in the National Guard in here to protect us." And black resident, Mary Ellen Jones admits that if the situation were reversed, a black attacking a white, she "would have been scared to walk the street," in fear of retaliation.

Their Day in Court

Parker has claimed that he was sexually abused by Warren for more than five years. According to a psychological report recorded during a competency hearing, Parker claims Warren offered him drugs and alcohol and then had sex with him when he was drunk. He estimated he had sex with Warren about 30 times over five years. Parker's lawyers plan to argue his judgment was impaired by drugs and alcohol on the night of the killing, and that he was too young to have legally consented to a sexual relationship with Warren.

Wilson admits kicking Warren, but claims he was intimidated and afraid of Parker which was the reason for his involvement. He claims not to have been the cause of Warren's death. Wilson was present in the car while Warren was still alive, but claims he was not directly involved in leaving him by the road or running him over afterward.

Due to the intense media coverage and the likelihood of Parker and Wilson testifying against one another, they will be tried in separate courts outside of Marion County. Parker is scheduled for trial the first week of April and Wilson the last week of May. Shoemaker, who was charged as a juvenile with being an accessory after the fact, is expected to testify in both trials.

When both individuals go on trial there's likely to be a new round of stories about racism and homophobia in Grant Town. Which is not to say that those two evils don't exist there. They just don't define the community.