Two acquaintances, Steven Eric Mullins and Charles Monroe Butler, beat Gaither to death, slashed his throat, and burned his body.

Gaither's murder gained significant coverage in state and national news, especially as it occurred in relatively close proximity to the similar high-profile murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr, both of which were motivated by prejudice against sexual and racial minorities respectively.

[5] Gaither had dropped out of Sylacauga High School when he reached the 11th grade and obtained his GED, after which he joined the Marines and served for a year.

Upon moving back to Sylacauga, Gaither frequented gay bars in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, and had brief relationships with at least two men.

[3][6] At the time of his death, Gaither worked as a computer terminal operator at a Russell Athletic location in Alexander City, Alabama, a small town near Sylacauga.

Gaither frequented flea markets and collected memorabilia and trinkets related to Gone with the Wind, including posters and Scarlett O'Hara dolls.

Sylacauga locals claimed Mullins often wore Ku Klux Klan shirts, sported Confederate flags, and made racist comments and taunts against black people, although he was not known prior to be a threat to the LGBT population.

[8] Mullins had spent time in prison prior to Gaither's murder after convictions of burglary and forgery.

"[5] One of Gaither's friends recalled an occasion prior to the murder when a group of businesses in downtown Sylacauga decided to hang a series of flags to "spruce up" the area.

Nevertheless, Mullins claimed the alleged proposition led him to murder Gaither, stating, "I didn't feel like he needed to live any longer.

"[13] After Butler finished his game of pool, he and Mullins convinced Gaither to join them at a slipway off of a rural highway.

Mullins claimed that as he pulled Gaither out of the trunk, Butler doused the tires with kerosene and lit them on fire.

[2][14] U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton offered the Gaither family their condolences after the murder, releasing a statement calling the crime "heinous and cowardly" and comparing it to the recent hate murders of James Byrd Jr. in Texas and Matthew Shepard in Wyoming.

He also stated, "If any man or woman cannot walk safely down our streets for fear of violence simply because of his or her sexual orientation, then none of us are truly free.

"[5] Weeks after Gaither's murder, LGBT rights activists attended an event in Birmingham's Covenant Metropolitan Community Church to advocate for Alabama's hate crime laws to include protections for sexual orientation.

During the event, members of the Westboro Baptist Church stood across the street holding signs criticizing Gaither.

Their leader, Reverend Fred Phelps, criticized the LGBT community for "exploiting" Gaither's murder and said, "It is no longer merely an event for the family and friends to grieve.

Marchers called the event a "political funeral" in memory of Gaither and other victims of hate crimes.

[21] Mullins and Butler were charged with capital murder, a death penalty-eligible offense, because of Gaither's kidnapping being an aggravating factor.

[24] During closing statements, prosecutors held up color photos of Gaither's burnt body for the jury to see and called Mullins and Butler "two pieces of pure evil.

During their deliberations, prosecutors removed the death penalty as a sentencing option due to a request from Gaither's family.

[20] The jury returned a guilty verdict on the afternoon of August 5, and moments afterwards, Butler was sentenced to life without parole.

[14] In 1996, PBS sponsored a documentary film called It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, intended to promote tolerance of LGBT people amongst schoolchildren.

The documentary received little support at the time of its release and was the target of backlash from anti-gay organizations like the American Family Association, but in 1999, it gained popularity.

[27] Gaither's murder helped to spur attempts by state lawmakers to change Alabama's hate crime law so it would protect sexual orientation and gender identity.

"[9] On February 26, 2019, officials at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama, found Mullins unresponsive in a housing area.

The Alabama Department of Corrections announced that they would file capital murder charges against the inmate suspected of stabbing Mullins, Christopher Scott Jones.

[14] Mullins's death was the fourth murder to occur at St. Clair Correctional Facility in a six-month span, prompting the Equal Justice Initiative to argue that authorities did not provide adequate protection to at-risk inmates at the facility; the EJI alleged that authorities had denied Mullins protection from threats of sexual assault and murder in the weeks prior to his death, even when he had reported the threats and requested assistance.