Mobile street renamed for black teen murdered by Klansmen in 1981

Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. - The street where a black teenager's body was found beaten and hanging from a tree will be named for him 25 years after he was abducted and killed by Ku Klux Klan members.

The Mobile City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to rename Herndon Avenue as Michael Donald Avenue in memory of the 19-year-old. The vote came after Donald's sister, Cecilia Perry, asked residents living on the street to sign a petition for the name change.

"In Mobile history, we memorialize old family names," District 2 Councilman William Carroll said before presenting a copy of the new green street sign to nine of Donald's relatives. "From this day forward, Michael Donald will be an old Mobile name."

Donald was kidnapped at gunpoint in Mobile one night while on his way to a convenience store. The next morning his beaten, cut and strangled body was found dangling from a rope in a tree across the street from the apartment of Ku Klux Klan member Henry Hays.

Hays was convicted in Donald's death and executed in 1997. Two other men were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement. A third, Hays' father, Bennie Jack Hays, died before his murder trial at age 76.

Prosecutors said the slaying was ordered by Klan leaders, including Hays' father, "to show Klan strength in Alabama."

Carroll said there might be an official ceremony for the unveiling of the new signs, but a date for the changeover was not set immediately.

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