Victim
Michael Anthony Donald (July 24, 1961 – March 21, 1981) was a 19-year-old African American from Mobile, Alabama. The youngest of six children, he was attending a technical college and working at the Mobile Press-Register at the time of his death. Donald was known for his quiet demeanor and had no known criminal record. His murder is considered one of the last recorded lynchings in the United States.
Murder Details
On the night of March 21, 1981, after a cross was burned on the lawn of the Mobile County courthouse—a protest by the Ku Klux Klan over a mistrial involving a Black defendant—two members of the United Klans of America (UKA), Henry Hays and James Knowles, abducted Michael Donald. They found him walking home after purchasing cigarettes for his sister. The men lured him into their car, drove him to a secluded area near Mobile Bay, and brutally beat him. Hays strangled Donald with a rope, while Knowles continued to assault him with a tree branch. After Donald ceased moving, Hays slit his throat three times to ensure he was dead. They then hung his lifeless body from a tree on Herndon Avenue, across from Hays's residence, where it remained until the following morning. That same night, other UKA members burned a cross on the courthouse lawn to celebrate the murder.
Suspects
Henry Francis Hays (26): A member of the UKA, Hays was convicted of capital murder in 1983. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, his sentence was later changed to the death penalty. He was executed by electric chair in 1997, marking the first execution in Alabama since 1913 for a white-on-Black crime and the only execution of a Klan member for the murder of an African American in the 20th century.
Hays was executed in "Yellow Mama", Alabama's electric chair, on June 6, 1997. Among the witnesses to the execution was Michael Donald's brother.
Hays publicly maintained his innocence. But at his funeral, Reverend Bob Smith, president of the Mobile chapter of the NAACP, said that Hays had privately made a tearful 40-minute confession to Donald's murder to him two days before his execution. According to later reporting, Hays renounced his racist views after befriending several black death row inmates in prison.
James Llewellyn "Tiger" Knowles (17): Also a UKA member, Knowles pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Hays. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. By the end of the trial, he was 21 years old. U.S. District Court Judge William Brevard Hand sentenced him to life in prison. Knowles avoided a death sentence by testifying against Hays, Cox, and other Klansmen at the trial. Knowles served 25 years in prison before being paroled in 2006.
In 2008, Knowles, who now had a job and was in the Federal Witness Protection Program, hadn't changed his name. He had black friends, but was reluctant to tell them about his past.
Bennie Jack Hays: Henry Hays's father, he was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. Tried some years later, his case ended in a mistrial when he collapsed in court. Judge Zoghby said that because of the illness of the elder Hays, then 71, he had no choice but to declare a mistrial. Hays's lawyer was willing to go forward with proceedings. Hays died of a heart attack before he could be retried.
Benjamin Franklin Cox Jr.: Another UKA member, he was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hays's brother-in-law. A truck driver from Mobile who provided the rope and a pistol.
Mobile County Circuit Court judge Michael Zoghby sentenced the then 28-year-old Cox to life in prison. He was paroled in 2000.
Trial
The criminal trial against Henry Hays and James Knowles was a significant event in the fight against racial violence. Hays was convicted of capital murder in 1983, and his death sentence was upheld after several appeals. Knowles's guilty plea and testimony against Hays were crucial in securing convictions for other UKA members involved in the crime.
Conclusion
Michael Donald's murder had profound legal and social implications. In 1984, his mother, Beulah Mae Donald, filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful death against the United Klans of America. The lawsuit alleged that the UKA was responsible for the actions of its members. In 1987, a jury awarded her $7 million in damages, a verdict that bankrupted the UKA and set a precedent for civil legal actions against hate groups.
Michael Anthony Donald (July 24, 1961 – March 21, 1981) was a 19-year-old African American from Mobile, Alabama. The youngest of six children, he was attending a technical college and working at the Mobile Press-Register at the time of his death. Donald was known for his quiet demeanor and had no known criminal record. His murder is considered one of the last recorded lynchings in the United States.
Murder Details
On the night of March 21, 1981, after a cross was burned on the lawn of the Mobile County courthouse—a protest by the Ku Klux Klan over a mistrial involving a Black defendant—two members of the United Klans of America (UKA), Henry Hays and James Knowles, abducted Michael Donald. They found him walking home after purchasing cigarettes for his sister. The men lured him into their car, drove him to a secluded area near Mobile Bay, and brutally beat him. Hays strangled Donald with a rope, while Knowles continued to assault him with a tree branch. After Donald ceased moving, Hays slit his throat three times to ensure he was dead. They then hung his lifeless body from a tree on Herndon Avenue, across from Hays's residence, where it remained until the following morning. That same night, other UKA members burned a cross on the courthouse lawn to celebrate the murder.
Suspects
Henry Francis Hays (26): A member of the UKA, Hays was convicted of capital murder in 1983. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, his sentence was later changed to the death penalty. He was executed by electric chair in 1997, marking the first execution in Alabama since 1913 for a white-on-Black crime and the only execution of a Klan member for the murder of an African American in the 20th century.
Hays was executed in "Yellow Mama", Alabama's electric chair, on June 6, 1997. Among the witnesses to the execution was Michael Donald's brother.
Hays publicly maintained his innocence. But at his funeral, Reverend Bob Smith, president of the Mobile chapter of the NAACP, said that Hays had privately made a tearful 40-minute confession to Donald's murder to him two days before his execution. According to later reporting, Hays renounced his racist views after befriending several black death row inmates in prison.
James Llewellyn "Tiger" Knowles (17): Also a UKA member, Knowles pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Hays. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. By the end of the trial, he was 21 years old. U.S. District Court Judge William Brevard Hand sentenced him to life in prison. Knowles avoided a death sentence by testifying against Hays, Cox, and other Klansmen at the trial. Knowles served 25 years in prison before being paroled in 2006.
In 2008, Knowles, who now had a job and was in the Federal Witness Protection Program, hadn't changed his name. He had black friends, but was reluctant to tell them about his past.
Bennie Jack Hays: Henry Hays's father, he was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. Tried some years later, his case ended in a mistrial when he collapsed in court. Judge Zoghby said that because of the illness of the elder Hays, then 71, he had no choice but to declare a mistrial. Hays's lawyer was willing to go forward with proceedings. Hays died of a heart attack before he could be retried.
Benjamin Franklin Cox Jr.: Another UKA member, he was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hays's brother-in-law. A truck driver from Mobile who provided the rope and a pistol.
Mobile County Circuit Court judge Michael Zoghby sentenced the then 28-year-old Cox to life in prison. He was paroled in 2000.
Trial
The criminal trial against Henry Hays and James Knowles was a significant event in the fight against racial violence. Hays was convicted of capital murder in 1983, and his death sentence was upheld after several appeals. Knowles's guilty plea and testimony against Hays were crucial in securing convictions for other UKA members involved in the crime.
Conclusion
Michael Donald's murder had profound legal and social implications. In 1984, his mother, Beulah Mae Donald, filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful death against the United Klans of America. The lawsuit alleged that the UKA was responsible for the actions of its members. In 1987, a jury awarded her $7 million in damages, a verdict that bankrupted the UKA and set a precedent for civil legal actions against hate groups.
