THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY BACKSTAGE GUIDE 11 While he lay in intensive care and in the days following the attack, candlelight vigils were held around the world. Shepard was pronounced dead six days after the attack at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998. He was 21. Trial & Sentencing Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the killing and to what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive in the crime. The prosecutor argued that McKinney's murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's lawyer attempted to put forward a gay panic defense, arguing that McKinney was driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Shepard. This defense was rejected by the judge. Both McKinney and Henderson were convicted of the murder, and each received two consecutive life sentences. Legacy Following her son's murder, Judy Shepard became a prominent LGBTQ rights activist and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard's death inspired films, novels, plays, songs, and other works, including The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" or "Shepard/Byrd Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law. On October 26, 2018, Shepard's ashes were interred at the crypt of Washington National Cathedral nearly 20 years after his death. The ceremony was presided over the first openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, and the Bishop of Washington Reverend Marianne Edgar Budde. His was the first interment of the ashes of a national figure at the cathedral since Helen Keller's fifty years earlier. President Barack Obama greets Louvon Harris, left, Betty Byrd Boatner, right, both sisters of James Byrd, Jr., and Judy Shepard, center, mother of Matthew Shepard, following his remarks on the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act on October 28, 2009. (edited from Wikipedia.org)