Dexter Wade, Mississippi man killed by police, buried without family knowing, not embalmed, had ID, lawyer says
Dexter Wade, the Mississippi man fatally run over by a police SUV and buried in a pauper’s field without his family knowing for seven months, had his ID card on him when he was killed, according to his family’s attorney.
Ben Crump said Thursday the independent autopsy of Wade showed the Mississippi man’s jeans contained a wallet with Wade’s state identification card with his home address, a credit card and a state insurance card.
The autopsy also showed Wade was not embalmed, his body was in an advanced state of decomposition.
Wade sustained multiple blunt force injuries to his skull, ribs and pelvis, Crump said, citing the autopsy.
Wade’s left leg was amputated; his body was “completely ran over by the police vehicle,” according to the attorney.
“The tragic news we received from the independent pathologist today was heartbreaking for everyone who knew and cared for Dexter Wade, especially his mother,” Crump said in a statement, referring to Bettersten Wade.
“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. There is no excuse, not even incompetence, for not notifying a next of kin of an identified man’s death.”
A full autopsy report is expected “soon,” Crump said.
Bettersten Wade went seven months not knowing her son, who she believed was missing, was struck and killed by an off-duty officer in a police SUV in Jackson.
Dexter Wade was buried in a pauper’s field in a Mississippi penal farm.
“Dexter, a young Black man, was buried with no more dignity and respect than an animal, which no human being deserves,” Crump continued. “This case has shown us time and time again that the local officials cannot be trusted in this matter and there are clear conflicts of interest. Now, louder than ever, we renew our calls to the Department of Justice to investigate all of the local entities involved in Dexter’s death and what his mother suspects is a coverup.
“Dexter’s grave was marked number 672,” the attorney went on to say. “We can only pray that there aren’t hundreds of other families out there unknowingly suffering this same fate.”
On Monday, the Wade family’s grief was compounded when his body was exhumed without them being present.
Crump sent AL.com a letter from Hinds County Board of Supervisors Attorney Tony R. Gaylor to another lawyer representing the Wade family indicating that Wade’s body was to be exhumed at 11:30 a.m. Monday.
But when Wade’s family and attorneys showed up for the exhumation, they learned Wade’s body had been taken 8 a.m. Monday “without any family being present,” Crump claimed.