James Antonio Barnes was born on April 27, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. He experienced a difficult childhood. His parents were alcoholics, and this caused him a lot of pain. Barnes claimed that his mother once tried to miscarry by taking drugs. Another time, as a punishment for misbehaving, he said he was put into a sack and lowered into a well.

As he grew older, he began to show signs of mental illness. He struggled with depression and hallucinations. He also faced issues with drug abuse. Because of these problems, he had to spend time in different treatment institutions in Michigan, Tennessee, and Missouri. Between these treatments, he got involved in petty crimes. One of the most serious offenses he committed was a bank robbery in Detroit.

After serving his time in prison for the bank robbery, Barnes got a job at a General Motors factory. Unfortunately, he was laid off when the company faced sales problems. With no home and no close relatives to support him, Barnes moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He settled in the Knightwoods neighborhood of Parkway Village, looking to start anew.

From August to November 1988, James Antonio Barnes attacked five individuals in Memphis, Tennessee. His victims were mostly involved in sex work. During this time, three of the five people he attacked died from their injuries.

Barnes chose his victims from areas such as Fourth and Vance Avenue. He would pick them up in his gray Hyundai and drive them to isolated locations. There, he would shoot them multiple times with a .32 caliber automatic pistol. His first confirmed victim was 25-year-old Sharon Denise Moore, who was found shot to death on August 15. Barnes later shot 28-year-old Loria Ann Deberry on October 5. He also picked up 23-year-old Tony Lee Thompson on October 25, but Thompson survived the attack despite being shot. Six days later, Barnes killed 37-year-old Joyce M. Thomas, whose body was discovered shortly after he shot her. The last attack occurred on November 5, when he picked up 30-year-old Eric Lewis, who also survived after being shot.

After the murder of Joyce Thomas, the Memphis Police Department formed a special task force to investigate the incidents. A major clue came from a witness who saw the car that picked up Eric Lewis. This led the police to Barnes' vehicle, a gray Hyundai. On November 10, police arrested Barnes after a brief car chase. During the chase, he discarded a pistol. Ballistic tests showed this gun was the same one used in all five attacks.

Once in custody, both Thompson and Lewis identified him as their attacker. During interrogations, Barnes admitted to killing the victims, including Moore. This confession cleared another suspect from the case. The police also looked into whether Barnes might be connected to other murders, including two additional ones in Memphis and two in Detroit.

Barnes claimed he was driven to kill by a feeling he described as cold and numb. He believed that this feeling could only be relieved by eliminating what he called the "vermin of the Earth." His behavior during custody was erratic, leading some to believe he might have multiple personality disorder. This claim was debated during his trial. Prosecutors argued he was faking his condition, asserting that he even bragged about deceiving the courts.

After psychiatric evaluations, Barnes was found to have multiple distinct personalities. He remained in mental health facilities until 1996, when he was deemed competent to stand trial. In September 1997, Barnes pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder as part of a plea deal. The death penalty was removed, and he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with the chance of parole after serving 16 years. He was transferred to a special facility in Nashville for treatment throughout his sentence.

Barnes was released from prison on April 10, 2016.