Very little is publicly documented about John Aaron Rice's life before the 2011 murder. At the time of the crime, Rice was a white teenager living in Rankin County, Mississippi. He was reportedly involved with a social group of white youths who regularly drank and partied together. There is no verified public information available on his education, family background, or employment prior to his involvement in the hate crime.

On June 26, 2011, 47-year-old James Craig Anderson, a Black man, was brutally attacked and killed in a racially motivated hate crime in Jackson, Mississippi. Anderson was standing near his vehicle in the parking lot of the Metro Inn when a group of white teenagers, including 18-year-old Deryl Dedmon and John Aaron Rice, spotted him during what they described as a “beer run.” The group had planned to drive to Jackson with the intent of harassing and assaulting Black people.

Dedmon led the group in expressing racial animosity, reportedly saying, “Let’s go fuck with some niggers.” The teens split into two vehicles: Dedmon's Ford F-250 truck and a white Jeep Cherokee driven by William Montgomery. The group found Anderson, falsely assumed he was breaking into a car, and attacked him. Witnesses confirmed Anderson was beaten and robbed by multiple teens, including Rice. After the assault, Rice got into Montgomery's Jeep, while Dedmon returned to his own truck.

As Anderson staggered away from the attack, Dedmon ran him over with the truck, killing him instantly. Security footage from the motel captured the hit-and-run. Witnesses reported hearing racial slurs such as "white power" being shouted during and after the attack.

Rice was initially charged with simple assault and released on bail. However, as the FBI launched a civil rights investigation, they uncovered a wider conspiracy involving multiple attacks on Black residents in Jackson by the same group of teens. In March 2012, Rice pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy and hate crime charges alongside Dedmon and Dylan Butler.

In February 2015, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves sentenced Rice to 18.5 years in federal prison. His sentence runs concurrently with any state-level punishment. Rice is currently serving his sentence at FCI McKean in Pennsylvania and is not eligible for parole.