Death of Brandon McClelland
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Brandon "Big Boy" McClelland (June 27, 1984 – September 16, 2008) was an African-American man whose death sparked racial controversy in the city of Paris, Texas. On September 16, 2008, McClelland was killed when he was first hit and run over by a vehicle, then dragged beneath it.
Further investigation revealed that McClelland was last seen alive with two white men, Paris, Texas, residents Shannon Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley, both of whom had long criminal histories with Finley being accused by the victims' family of having ties to white supremacist groups.[1] McClelland had apparently known Finley and Crostley since they were all children and the two white men and McClelland were considered to be friends and had been working together earlier that evening hanging sheetrock.
By the time the police impounded the truck allegedly used, there were signs that it already had been washed, but despite this, police found blood and other physical evidence on the undercarriage of the truck and the blood was identified as belonging to McClelland. The police affidavit for Finley's arrest alleged that McClelland was walking in front of the truck when Finley ran him down, and dragged him at least 40 ft until his body popped out from underneath the chassis. Finley's estranged wife and another of his friends said the defendants told them that, after an argument about who was sober enough to drive, McClelland got out, and Finley bumped him with the truck until knocking him over, and then drove over him and dragged his body under the truck. The two men were charged with killing McClelland and both subsequently pleaded "not guilty." The prosecutor cited a lack of evidence in dropping murder charges in June 2009 and the two men were released.[2]
The case was problem due to a lack of eyewitnesses and physical evidence. A month before the charges were dropped, a truck driver gave a sworn statement admitting that he may have accidentally run over McClelland.[3]