The parents initially want to request the death penalty for their son's murderers, but the mother, Judy Shepard ( Stockard Channing), starts to reconsider. Matthew's parents, though satisfied by the conviction, are finding the sentencing phase of the trial more difficult. This film recounts the events after the conviction of the two men responsible for this hate motivated murder. Although he's found by the police, rescued and hospitalized, he dies from his injuries. In 1998, a young gay man by the name of Matthew Shepard ( Shane Meier) was robbed, viciously beaten and left tied to a fence to die.
