Mississippi Hate Crime Suspect Deryl Dedmon Isolated from Other Inmates

Deryl Dedmon, a 19-year-old white teen facing a capital murder charge in a hit-and-run hate crime in Mississippi, will be isolated from other inmates because of the publicity surrounding the case, said Hinds County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott to local media.

Mississippi authorities believe Dedmon and a group of white teens intentionally ran over James Craig Anderson on June 26, in an attempt to kill him because of his skin color. Prior to mowing down Anderson, 49, with a pickup truck, the teens first beat him as he stood in a hotel parking lot that morning, teens told police during an interview. They then ran him down with a large Ford pickup truck and Anderson died the same day.

Another teen, John Aaron Rice, was also charged with murder until a judge reduced his charges because it is believed that Rice wasn't driving the vehicle used to kill Anderson, CNN reported.

This was a racially motivated murder, committed because the victim was black, Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith has said. We want to prosecute and bring justice in this case to the fullest extent of the law.