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Tag: dexter wade

  • Woman Seeks DOJ Probe After Her Son Is Hit By Cop Car, Buried In Pauper’s Grave

    Woman Seeks DOJ Probe After Her Son Is Hit By Cop Car, Buried In Pauper’s Grave

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    Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate why Dexter Wade ― a Mississippi man who authorities say was hit and killed by an off-duty police officer’s vehicle ― was quietly buried by the city in a pauper’s grave as his mother repeatedly contacted police for help finding him.

    “For six months, she didn’t know where he was at,” Crump said at a press conference Monday alongside Wade’s mother, Bettersten Wade, who says she filed a missing person report with the Jackson Police Department days after her son’s disappearance in March, and that she repeatedly asked police to check their morgue.

    “They had my address. They had my phone number — the same thing on his medical records. How could they not, how could they not put all of that together?” Bettersten Wade said. “Our police department is supposed to help.”

    Bettersten said it wasn’t until Aug. 24 that she learned that her son was dead, and that his body had been discharged by the morgue and buried in a pauper’s field. His grave was given a marker reading “No. 672.”

    Wade was found buried in a pauper’s cemetery under the marker “672.” The family is seeking an exhumation so Wade’s body can undergo an independent autopsy and receive a proper burial.

    Crump said Dexter Wade, 37, was found without identification cards, but that the coroner’s office was able to identify him through his fingerprints and a prescription medication that was found on him.

    The coroner’s office tried calling Bettersten Wade. When the attempt was unsuccessful, the coroner shared her number with the police department so they could reach out as well, and the coroner repeatedly checked in with police to see if they’d made contact, Crump said.

    “The coroner was saying, ‘Have you called her? Have you called her? Have you made contact?’” Crump said.

    Both Crump and Bettersten Wade expressed suspicion about whether police ever actually tried to call.

    “She didn’t see anything where she was getting contacted… by the Jackson Police Department,” Crump said.

    The police department did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

    Bettersten Wade alleges that police intentionally didn’t reach out to her because of a lawsuit she’d previously filed against the department related to her brother’s death in 2019. Her brother, George Robinson, 62, died two days after he was beaten by police during a traffic stop. Robinson’s death was ruled a homicide and an officer involved was later convicted of manslaughter, though he is now appealing his conviction.

    Bettersten believes that because of that lawsuit, local police have a “vendetta” against her.

    The city’s mayor, who addressed Dexter Wade’s death in public remarks last week, blamed a lack of communication between the police department’s missing persons division and the coroner’s office, but said there’s no evidence of police misconduct or malicious intent.

    “The accident was investigated, and it was determined that it was, in fact, an accident and that there was no malicious intent,” said Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who said Dexter was fatally struck while he attempted to cross a highway.

    Crump said he wants Dexter’s body to be exhumed so it can undergo an independent autopsy and receive a proper burial.

    “We will not rest until the full truth is revealed, and those responsible for this injustice are held accountable,” Crump said in a statement. “Dexter’s memory will not be forgotten, and his story will fuel our fight for a fair and just society where every life is valued and protected, regardless of who they are.”

    A spokesperson for the DOJ told HuffPost that the department is aware of the investigation request, but that it had no further comment.

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  • Mother Says County Buried Her Son Without Notifying Her After Off-Duty Cop Killed Him

    Mother Says County Buried Her Son Without Notifying Her After Off-Duty Cop Killed Him

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    A Mississippi mother wants answers after learning that her son was fatally run over by a police officer and buried in a pauper’s graveyard. She made the discovery about seven months after Dexter Wade, 37, went missing.

    Bettersten Wade, the mother, says that she last saw her son on March 5 after he left her house with a friend.

    According to NBC News, Bettersten eventually reported him missing to the Jackson Police Department on March 14 after days passed without hearing from him. Bettersten says that an investigator took her statement. She followed up by sending that investigator and another investigator photos of her son — requesting that they put his picture on television.

    The mother told the outlet she kept in regular touch with the police — asking for updates. However, every time she called, she alleges law enforcement officials told her they had no information. This was ultimately untrue.

    Mother Finally Learns What Happened To Her 37-Year-Old Son

    Bettersten eventually learned that Dexter died while walking across Interstate 55. An off-duty officer struck him while driving a Jackson PD SUV. The collision reportedly occurred an hour after Dexter left his mother’s house on March 5.

    After reporting the accident, the driver was not subjected to field sobriety tests or cited for traffic violations, per NBC. Ultimately, Dexter’s death was ruled accidental despite severe injuries to his head from the collision.

    Dexter was reportedly without identification when he died. However, a Hinds County Coroner’s Office investigator, LaGrand Elliott, reportedly discovered a prescription pill bottle in Dexter’s pocket. The final toxicology report claims the victim had PCP and methamphetamine in his system.

    Elliott was able to verify Dexter’s identity and his next of kin before eventually forwarding the information to the Jackson Police Department on March 9. However, despite knowing Dexter’s identity and family phone number and address, the mother alleges that Jackson Police failed to contact her.

    “Once we get that information, I turn it over to police because it is their jurisdiction so that they can do the proper death notification,” Elliott reportedly told NBC.

    Instead, Jackson PD allegedly let Dexter’s body go unclaimed for months in the county morgue.

    Coroner Reveals Reaching Out Multiple Times To Jackson Police About Dexter Wade’s Next Of Kin

    Elliott reportedly checked in with Jackson PD on March 30 about next of kin and was allegedly told there were no updates.

    In response, the coroner’s office requested approval on March 31 to bury the 37-year-old in a pauper’s field at the Hinds County penal farm. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved the request on April 3. The coroner investigator, Elliott, reportedly reached out to Jackson PD two more times after that — in May and June. He alleges Jackson PD gave him the same “no contact with next of kin” update.

    The county finally buried Wade in the pauper’s graveyard on July 14, next to other unclaimed bodies. His mother didn’t learn details about his death until a new investigator took over the case in August.

    Ultimately, she paid the $250 fee to claim her son’s body. Still, she waited weeks to learn his burial place. In early October, she finally visited his temporary resting place, plot No. 672.

    Unfortunately, this isn’t Bettersten’s first tragic encounter with Jackson PD. In 2019, her 62-year-old brother died after former Jackson officer Anthony Fox slammed him to the ground during an arrest. The brother, George Robinson, suffered a fatal head injury. Fox was convicted of manslaughter but is currently appealing, per NBC.

    While speaking to NBC, Bettersten said she can’t help but wonder if her son’s death had anything to do with her brother’s and the allegations she made against the police in that case.

    “Maybe it was a vendetta. Maybe they buried my son to get back at me,” the mother said.

    The mother is now raising money to give her son a proper burial.

    RELATED: Update: Nichole Coats’ Death Ruled ‘Accident’ Despite Alleged Bloody Scene In Model’s Apartment

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    Maya M.

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