On April 19, 2000, Kevin Benjamin Shifflett was killed in his great-grandmother's front yard. Gregory Murphy approached the 8-year-old as he was playing, stabbed him 18 times, and cut his throat. He also wounded Kevin's great-grandmother and another woman when they tried to help the boy. In a hotel where Gregory had been staying, authorities found a handwritten note that said, "Kill them racist white kids anyway."