Parents of slain gay African-American request federal investigation

Brenda and Arthur Warren call on local authorities to file hate-crime charges in the death of their openly gay son

July 20, 2000
Web posted at: 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Arthur and Brenda Warren of Grant Town, West Virginia, were expected on Thursday to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the killing of their gay, African-American son.

Two white teen-agers have been charged with murdering 26-year-old Arthur Carl "J.R." Warren Jr., who police say was beaten to death July 4 in Grant Town. His body was dumped by a roadside and repeatedly run over with a car to disguise the killing as a hit-and-run accident, authorities said.

The regional FBI office in Pittsburgh tells CNN it has reviewed evidence from a police investigation of the killing and has determined there is no reason the case would fall under federal jurisdiction.

Despite that, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder agreed to meet with the Warrens in Washington.

	MESSAGE BOARD
The state of race relations

'If it's not hate, what is it?'

The meeting was requested by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian and gay political organization, which says Warren's sexual orientation and race motivated the teen-agers to attack him. The organization says the murder should be considered a "hate crime."

On July 9, Warren's parents told CNN they also thought their son's killing was a hate crime.

"If it's not hate, what is it?" a tearful Brenda Warren told CNN.

The Human Rights Campaign is planning to hold a candlelight vigil Thursday at the U.S. Capitol.

CNN Justice Department Producer Terry Frieden and CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken contributed to this report.

Parents call murder of gay son a hate crime
July 9, 2000
Funeral held for gay man slain in West Virginia
July 8, 2000
Gay rights activists say West Virginia killing is a 'hate crime'
July 7, 2000
Supreme Court says only juries can decide motive in hate crimes
June 26, 2000

Human Rights Campaign - Working for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights
West Virginia Lesbian and Gay Coalition
ACLU: Gay and Lesbian Rights
FBI - Uniform Crime Reports - Hate Crime Statistics 1995

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.