Attorney Benjamin Crump is spearheading the efforts to investigate Dexter Wade’s case with the Department of Justice.
Dexter Wade, a Mississippi man who was buried in a “pauper’s grave” after being run over by an off-duty police officer, will soon undergo an exhumation and autopsy. Following these procedures, he will be laid to rest in a proper cemetery. His mother, Bettersten Wade, continues to fight for justice for her son.
NBC News reported that Bettersten Wade was kept in the dark regarding her son’s fate. She revealed that she requested information from the Jackson Police Department for several months while desperately searching for her missing child. Eventually, Wade discovered that the department had information about the circumstances surrounding Dexter’s tragic incident.
“The system is supposed to work for me if I call you and say I need help,” Wade, 65, said at a news conference held on Oct 30.
“I am a citizen here in Jackson. So I asked for help.”
Wade and Crump believe the Jackson Police Department worked against Wade due to a vendetta the department carries against the family over an earlier case. Back in 2019, Wade’s brother died after he was slammed to the ground by a Jackson Police Department officer. The officer was later tried and convicted of manslaughter, but is currently appealing the case. Wade’s family filed a wrongful death suit against the department, accusing them of covering up their actions which lead to her brother’s death, using excessive force, and it also accusing the City of Jackson of a failure to properly train its officers.
At the press conference, Crump said “It just doesn’t pass the smell test. That’s why people all over America are talking about what happened to Dexter Wade in Jackson, Mississippi.” Crump continued,
“We are asking for the Department of Justice to investigate this matter because the family does not have trust in the Mississippi officials. Would you, after this happened to your brother and child?”
The City of Jackson has denied the family’s claims and asserted that it is not responsible for what happened to Wade’s brother. Additionally, some of the family’s suit has been thrown out by a judge, while others remain pending in Mississippi state courts.
Wade’s son went missing on March 5, when he was last seen leaving her home with a friend. The week after, Wade reported him missing, and for months after that, she called investigators seeking an update, only to be consistently told there was no news to report. It was not until Aug. 24 that she would learn the truth. A Jackson accident investigator informed Wade that her son had actually died on March 5 after being struck by a police cruiser as he crossed a highway.
Following an NBC News report, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba discussed the case on Oct 19 in a State of the City speech saying that the police meant no harm and could not contact Wade because they had an incorrect number for her. Wade, however, was not having that explanation as she told NBC News,
whether or not they had a correct number for her residence was irrelevant because they could have just come to her house and delivered the news in person.RELATED CONTENT: MISSISSIPPI OFFICERS TERMINATED, FACING DISCIPLINARY ACTION AFTER ARREST OF BLACK CHILD