Current:Home > ScamsMississippi man had ID in his pocket when he was buried without his family’s knowledge-LoTradeCoin
Mississippi man had ID in his pocket when he was buried without his family’s knowledge
View Date:2024-12-23 19:42:32
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Black man who died after he was hit by a police SUV in Mississippi was buried in a pauper’s cemetery without his family’s knowledge, even though his state ID was in his pocket, indicating a serious effort to cover up the manner of his death, the family’s lawyer said Thursday.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement that the body of Dexter Wade was exhumed Monday, and that a wallet subsequently found in the pocket of the jeans Wade had been buried in contained his state identification card with his home address, his credit card and a health insurance card.
Crump urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Wade’s death and its aftermath.
“The fact that Dexter had a state identification card and several other identifying items shows us that there was a concerted effort to keep the truth and manner of his death from his family,” Crump said. “There is no excuse, not even incompetence, for not notifying a next of kin of an identified man’s death.”
Representatives of the Jackson Police Department and the Hinds County Coroner’s Office did not immediately respond to calls and text messages requesting comment.
Wade, 37, died March 5 after he was hit by a Jackson Police Department vehicle driven by an off-duty officer. He was buried in a pauper’s cemetery before his family was notified of his death.
Crump confirmed to The Associated Press that the address on the ID card matched the address of Wade’s mother, Bettersten Wade, who said she didn’t learn of her son’s death until months after he was buried.
In addition, Dr. Frank Peretti — who performed the autopsy this week — found that Wade’s body had not been embalmed. Peretti concluded that Wade suffered multiple blunt force injuries, and that his left leg had been amputated, Crump said.
Wade’s mother said she last saw her son on March 5 and she filed a missing person’s report a few days later. But it wasn’t until late August that she learned her son had been killed by a Jackson Police Department vehicle as he crossed Interstate 55.
An investigator from the Hinds County coroner’s office responded to the accident scene but did not find any identification while examining Wade’s body, NBC News reported. The coroner did find a bottle of prescription medication in his pocket with his name on it.
The Hinds County coroner’s office said it called a number listed for Bettersten Wade but did not hear back. Bettersten Wade said she never received the call. The coroner’s office also told Jackson police multiple times to contact her, Crump said. City officials have said the communication breakdown was an accident.
Wade’s family members and attorneys won the right to exhume his body Monday, but they did not get to see the exhumation because it took place hours before county officials said it would.
___
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.
veryGood! (34)
Related
- Disruptions to Amtrak service continue after fire near tracks in New York City
- Judge allows disabled voters in Wisconsin to electronically vote from home
- States fail to track abuses in foster care facilities housing thousands of children, US says
- Who will draft Bronny James? Best NBA draft fits, from Lakers to Raptors
- The USDA is testing raw milk for the avian flu. Is raw milk safe?
- Olympic track and field seeing dollar signs with splashy cash infusions into the sport
- US court says Smith & Wesson must comply with New Jersey subpoena in deceptive advertising probe
- US military shows reporters pier project in Gaza as it takes another stab at aid delivery
- Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
- Supreme Court rejects Josh Duggar's child pornography appeal
Ranking
- Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
- Illinois man accused in mass shooting at Fourth of July parade expected to change not-guilty plea
- Native American ceremony will celebrate birth of white buffalo calf in Yellowstone park
- Delaware Senate gives final approval to bill mandating insurance coverage for abortions
- Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
- Jury awards $700k to Seattle protesters jailed for writing anti-police slogans in chalk on barricade
- Justin Timberlake Shares First Social Media Post Since DWI Arrest
- The Daily Money: Bailing on home insurance
Recommendation
-
Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
-
Monsoon storm dumps heavy rain in parts of Flagstaff; more than 3,000 customers without electricity
-
Man paralyzed after riding 55-year-old roller coaster in South Carolina, suit claims
-
2024 NBA mock draft: Projections for all 30 first-round picks during draft week
-
Record-setting dry conditions threaten more US wildfires, drinking water supplies
-
Copa America 2024: Updated power ranking for all 16 teams
-
2024 NBA mock draft: Projections for all 30 first-round picks during draft week
-
Olympic champion swimmers tell Congress U.S. athletes have lost faith in anti-doping regulator