The lawyer fighting for a distraught mother whose son was allegedly killed by police officers and then buried in an open grave without her knowledge is confident he will win the battle for justice.
Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump told The US Sun he will do everything in his power to alleviate the hell suffered by Bettersten Wade after his son Dexter, 37, disappeared on March 5 last year in Jackson, Mississippi.
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She filed a missing persons report a week later – but didn’t discover the brutality of the situation until another seven months later.
FAMILY NIGHTMARE
Bettersten, whose brother George was killed while in police custody in 2019 and is already in a long-running legal fight with the state, only realized what happened when a private investigator discovered that Dexter’s body was dumped with hundreds of other unclaimed bodies. behind a Hinds County jail. .
“Dexter had an ID in his pocket and they just threw him in a bag,” an exasperated Crump told The US Sun.
An off-duty police officer allegedly hit Dexter while driving a Jackson police SUV.
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There was a Hinds County coroner at the scene, according to NBC Newswho claimed there was no identification with the body.
DOUBTED CLAIMS
Some medicines with his name were found, but his family still didn’t know.
“You don’t have to be Columbo to find out who he was,” Crump said in disbelief.
An independent autopsy conducted by pathologist Dr. Frank Peretti revealed a number of alarming details.
Dexter’s body was not embalmed, his body was in an advanced state of decomposition and had multiple blunt force injuries to his skull, ribs and pelvis.
His left leg was amputated, his body was completely run over by the police cruiser, while in the front pocket of his jeans was a wallet containing his state ID card with home address, credit card and health insurance card.
Local authorities alleged that calls were made to Dexter’s mother, something she and Crump deny.
The Hinds County coroner’s office said it called a number listed for Bettersten Wade but did not get a response.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba admitted last October that “there was a lack of communication with the missing persons division, the coroner’s office and [the police department’s] accident investigation”, by NPR.
“They said they went to their mother’s house twice – we don’t know if that’s true, but was that the only thing they tried?” Crump continued. “They blocked the state from taking a picture of it.”
PARTYING IN THE MEAT
The Jackson Police Department admitted that a police car struck Wade, but refuted allegations about the appalling delay in informing his shaken family.
“While this is a very tragic and unfortunate accident, our investigation found no malicious intent on the part of any Jackson police employee,” the city of Jackson said in a statement to CNN.
Crump, dubbed the attorney general of Black America, exposed the horrors of his trip to the prison where Dexter’s body was exhumed, which allowed his family to give him a proper funeral.
He says the sight of vultures invading the area and pecking at the ground meant only one thing.
“When I saw those birds, I knew the people buried weren’t even in boxes,” he said dismissively. “It’s deplorable.”
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump on Dexter Wade’s autopsy report
The following statement was issued by civil rights attorney Ben Crump regarding Dexter Wade’s autopsy report:
The tragic news we received today from the independent pathologist was heartbreaking for everyone who knew and cared for Dexter Wade, especially his mother.
The fact that Dexter had a state ID card and several other items of identification shows us that there was a concerted effort to hide the truth and manner of his death from his family.
There is no excuse, not even incompetence, for not notifying a family member of the death of an identified man.
Dexter, a young black man, was buried with no more dignity and respect than an animal, which no human being deserves.
This case has shown us repeatedly that local authorities cannot be trusted in this matter and that there are clear conflicts of interest.
Now, louder than ever, we renew our calls for the Department of Justice to investigate all local entities involved in Dexter’s death and what his mother suspects was a cover-up.
Dexter’s grave was marked with the number 672.
We can only pray that there aren’t hundreds of other families out there unknowingly suffering the same fate.
Crump says one of his associates claims the disgusting dumping of unclaimed bodies is “intentional to keep the crime rate down.”
He filed a lawsuit against the state three months ago and hopes to have a response in the coming weeks, with the possibility of criminal action.
“We’re going to pursue this beyond what the federal government is saying because he was allegedly crossing the street,” Crump said.
COMPENSATION WAR
He wants Wade and his two daughters to be heavily compensated for their loss, but he knows the battle for justice and equality has no end.
“I think when you’re black in America and you care about the police, there’s an effort to justify that like I’ve never seen,” Crump continued.
“They always try to justify killing us and say there’s nothing to see here, move on.”
While the Wade case is ongoing, Crump is also pushing the Justice Department to help families whose loved ones were thrown to the floor at the Hinds County Jail.
The families want federal investigations into the burials, with Crump fearing that hundreds of people were dumped there without warning.
“We know from the coroner’s records that since 2016, over the last eight years, we can identify 215 individuals who were buried behind that prison, and their families were not notified,” Crump said. PBS earlier this year.
The US Sun contacted the Jackson Police Department for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
