Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old man fatally struck by a Jackson police cruiser, was buried in a pauper’s field without his family’s knowledge, sparking public outrage last month when NBC News reported about the case. Wade’s mother spent months searching for her son, unaware that he had been killed and buried. After Civil rights leaders flew in from around the country, an independent autopsy, exhumation, and agreement, Dexter Wade’s formal funeral was held.
According to the family’s lawyers, an independent autopsy found that Wade was buried with a state ID listing his home address. Both civil rights leaders Ben Crump and Dennis Sweet attended the funeral where Rev. Al Sharpton delivered Wade’s eulogy, promising to fight to hold the city of Jackson and Hinds County accountable for Dexter Wade’s death. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has blamed communication failures for the botched case and said police officers didn’t mean to cause Dexter Wade’s family any harm.
Bettersten Wade, Dexter Wade’s mother, expressed some comfort but not peace during the funeral, stating that she will not rest until she gets justice and finds out what happened to her son. A white hearse drove Dexter Wade’s casket to a newly-constructed cemetery where his family gathered around a freshly dug grave. A pastor said a final prayer and family members placed roses on the casket. “Justice for Dexter Wade” was chanted as his casket was lowered into the ground, and at the second funeral burial, Bettersten Wade rose and dropped a handful of dirt onto his casket.
