Murder of Willie Brewster

"Willie Brewster" redirects here. For other people with similar names, see William Brewster.

Murder of Willie Brewster
Part of the Civil Rights Movement
Brewster was killed while driving on Highway 202.
Location	Anniston, Alabama
Date	July 15, 1965 (1965-07-15)
Attack type	Shooting
Deaths	1
Victims	Willie Brewster
Perpetrators	Hubert Damon Strange Johnny Ira DeFries (alleged) Clarence Lewis Blevins (alleged)
Motive	White supremacy
Convicted	Hubert Damon Strange

On the evening of July 13, 1965, Hubert Damon Strange shot Willie Brewster as Brewster drove past him on Highway 202 outside Anniston, Alabama; two days later, Brewster died in a hospital. In December of that year, Strange was convicted of second degree murder; this was the first time in the history of Alabama that a white man was convicted of killing a black man in a racially-motivated murder case.

Killing

On July 15, 1965, Brewster was driving home with his coworkers from a nightshift at the Union Foundry, when shots were fired into the car by white supremacist Hubert Damon Strange. Brewster was hit in the neck and died three days afterwards from his wounds. The Anniston Star published a full-page advertisement announcing that they would "pledge the sum of $20,000 to the person who supplies information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting Thursday night of Willie Brewster." The defense attorney for Strange was J. B. Stoner. Strange was later convicted of second degree murder by an all-white jury on December 2, 1965. After seven hours of deliberation, the jury sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The plot of shooting a black person was allegedly hatched at Ku Klux Klan member Kenneth Adams' filling station the night before Brewster was killed. The men behind the killing belonged to the National States' Rights Party, a violent white supremacist group whose members had been involved in church bombings and murders of blacks.

Two other men, Johnny Ira DeFries and Clarence Lewis Blevins, were charged as accomplices to murder. However, DeFries was acquitted and the charges against Blevins were later dropped.

Aftermath

Strange never served his sentence: he was released pending appeal, and on November 2, 1967, was fatally shot during a fight. His appeal was subsequently dismissed. In 1969, Billy Claude Clayton was convicted of first degree manslaughter for killing Strange and sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

In 1973, Johnny Ira DeFries was convicted of first degree murder for killing a man named John C. McVeigh during an argument. DeFries was sentenced to life in prison. He escaped from prison in 1974 and 1978, both times spending roughly 11 months as a free man. DeFries was paroled in the late 1980s. However, he then raped a woman while on parole. For this, DeFries was convicted of first degree rape and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He died in prison in September 2003.

In 1998, Clarence Lewis Blevins was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison on charges of soliciting murder-for-hire and illegally manufacturing firearms. He'd attempted to have several people killed, including his ex-wife. In 2007, Blevins told a prison informant that he would provide him explosives to murder his ex-wife, her boyfriend, and her neighbor. In 2009, he was convicted of soliciting murder-for-hire for the second time and had 20 years added to his sentence. In 2019, Blevins filed a petition for compassionate release. After this request was denied by the warden, he filed a motion for compassionate release, citing his poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic. He filed another motion requesting a sentence reduction under the First Step Act. Blevins argued that he was no longer a danger to society, citing his good prison record.

The government opposed the request, pointing to Blevins's history of violence. His alleged involvement in Brewster's death was not mentioned, although the court noted that he'd been convicted of shooting and wounding his daughter prior to his 1998 conviction. In addition, Blevins's ex-wife and neighbor had expressed concerns for their safety in response to his petition. Ultimately, both of Blevins's petitions were rejected. He died in prison on October 4, 2021, at the age of 82.

Legacy

A memorial marker was erected near the site of the shooting in 2016, by the City of Anniston Historic Trails Program. Brewster's name was placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of Civil Rights Martyrs.