Death of Texas Man Stirs Racial Tension

Paris, Texas - A black man named Brandon McClelland, 24, was found dead on a rural road on September 16th. He was going with two white friends on a late night beer run across the Oklahoma State line. The authorities said he was run over and dragged as far as 70 feet. His torn-apart body was found along a rural road. Black activists and his Mother, Jacquline McClelland are calling it a racist attack. Prosecutors cast doubt on that on Friday. The case has raised racial tension in Paris, Texas a town of 26,000 with a history of racial problems. Paris is 73 percent white and 22 percent black. Prosecutors said that they have no evidence that Mr. McClelland's slaying was racially motivated and that the three men had been friends for years. Autopsy results are expected this week. Investigators did not think that McClelland had been tied to the truck, but plan on looking for evidence of how he was dragged. "I truly feel that race played a part in it" said Jaquline McClelland. "It is a racist town, and Paris has always been a racist town." According to court papers, Shannon K. Finley and Charles R. Crostley, both 27, told the police they had left the dry town to get beer in Oklahoma, and on the way back, the three men, all apparently drunk, argued about who was sober enough to drive. Mr. McClelland, a maintenance worker, decided to walk home, taking some beer with him, the men told the police. Mr. Finley’s estranged wife and one of his friends said they had been told by the two defendants that Mr. Finley began to bump Mr. McClelland with his truck until Mr. McClelland fell, and Mr. Finley drove over him, according to court papers. Mr. Finley and Mr. Crostley reportedly drove to a carwash to clean off the blood. Mr. Crostley and Mr. Finley are jailed on charges of murder and evidence-tampering.





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