Crump: Dexter Wade, buried without family’s knowledge, had wallet, ID at time of death

Lawyers for Dexter Wade said an independent exhumation and autopsy found that the 37-year-old Black man had a wallet and ID on him at the time of his death, despite police officers’ claims they could not identify the body.

Wade, a father of two, was killed in March and buried without his family’s knowledge. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wade’s family, released the findings from pathologist Dr. Frank Peretti on Thursday. 

Initial findings found Wade’s body had been run over by a police vehicle and that his body was mutilated ahead of his burial in a pauper’s grave in Jackson, Miss. 

Wade’s body was not embalmed and was in an advanced state of decomposition. He also had multiple blunt force injuries to the skull, ribs and pelvis, and his left leg was amputated. 

In the front pocket of Wade’s jeans, there was a wallet containing his state identification card with his home address, his credit card and a health insurance card — a major finding considering Wade’s family was reportedly never informed of his death or burial, despite their constant contact with the police department.

Crump said the findings, particularly the wallet, indicate “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,” Crump said.

“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 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,” Crump added. 

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Wade’s mother, Bettersten Wade, reported her son missing to the Jackson Police Department the week after he died. 

At the time, she told officers she last saw her son March 5, when he came to visit her. For the next six months, she called missing persons investigators for information but was repeatedly told there was no news. 

Bettersten Wade was not informed of Wade’s death until six months later, despite the coroner having identified Wade and his next of kin at the time of his autopsy. She was reportedly told there had been no ID on her son’s body at the time of his death, and that he was only identified through a prescription he had on him. 

The coroner said he had repeatedly asked for updates from police, but there were none, and no one claimed Wade’s body. The county buried him July 14 in a pauper’s field of the Hinds County penal farm, in a grave marked 672. 

Bettersten Wade and Crump have accused the Jackson Police Department of a cover up. 

Crump, along with the Rev. Al Sharpton, has called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the case.