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Mother Says County Buried Her Son Without Notifying Her After Off-Duty Cop Killed Him

<p>A Mississippi mother wants answers after learning that her son was <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;eminems-former-stunt-double-ryan-shepard&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">fatally run over<&sol;a> by a police officer and buried in a pauper’s graveyard&period; She made the discovery about seven months after <strong>Dexter Wade<&sol;strong>&comma; 37&comma; went missing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Bettersten Wade<&sol;strong>&comma; the mother&comma; says that she last saw her son on March 5 after he left her house with a friend&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nbcnews&period;com&sol;news&sol;us-news&sol;bettersten-wade-dexter-jackson-mississippi-police-missing-rcna121697&quest;cid&equals;sm&lowbar;npd&lowbar;nn&lowbar;tw&lowbar;ma&amp&semi;taid&equals;6539347f1014b100019757f7&amp&semi;utm&lowbar;campaign&equals;trueanthem&amp&semi;utm&lowbar;medium&equals;social&amp&semi;utm&lowbar;source&equals;twitter" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">NBC News<&sol;a>&comma; Bettersten eventually reported him missing to the Jackson Police Department on March 14 after days passed without hearing from him&period; Bettersten says that an investigator took her statement&period; She followed up by sending that investigator and another investigator photos of her son &&num;8212&semi; requesting that they put his picture on television&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The mother told the outlet she kept in regular touch with <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;florida-gamestop-employee-fatal-suspect-pokemon-cards&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">the police<&sol;a> &&num;8212&semi; asking for updates&period; However&comma; every time she called&comma; she alleges law enforcement officials told her they had no information&period; This was ultimately untrue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Mother Finally Learns What Happened To Her 37-Year-Old Son<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Bettersten eventually learned that Dexter died while walking across Interstate 55&period; An off-duty officer struck him while driving a Jackson PD SUV&period; The collision reportedly occurred an hour after Dexter left his mother&&num;8217&semi;s house on March 5&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>After reporting the accident&comma; the driver was not subjected to field sobriety tests or cited for traffic violations&comma; per NBC&period; Ultimately&comma; Dexter&&num;8217&semi;s death was ruled accidental despite severe injuries to his head from the collision&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dexter was reportedly without identification when he died&period; However&comma; a Hinds County Coroner&&num;8217&semi;s Office investigator&comma; LaGrand Elliott&comma; reportedly discovered a prescription pill bottle in Dexter&&num;8217&semi;s pocket&period; The final toxicology report claims the victim had PCP and methamphetamine in his system&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Elliott was able to verify Dexter’s identity and his next of kin before eventually forwarding the information to the Jackson Police Department on March 9&period; However&comma; despite knowing Dexter’s identity and family phone number and address&comma; the mother alleges that Jackson Police failed to contact her&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;Once we get that information&comma; I turn it over to police because it is their jurisdiction so that they can do the proper death notification&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Elliott reportedly told NBC&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Instead&comma; Jackson PD allegedly let Dexter’s body go unclaimed for months in the county morgue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Coroner Reveals Reaching Out Multiple Times To Jackson Police About Dexter Wade&&num;8217&semi;s Next Of Kin<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Elliott reportedly checked in with Jackson PD on March 30 about next of kin and was allegedly told there were no updates&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In response&comma; the coroner&&num;8217&semi;s office requested approval on March 31 to bury the 37-year-old in a pauper’s field at the Hinds County penal farm&period; The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved the request on April 3&period; The coroner investigator&comma; Elliott&comma; reportedly reached out to Jackson PD two more times after that &&num;8212&semi; in May and June&period; He alleges Jackson PD gave him the same &&num;8220&semi;no contact with next of kin&&num;8221&semi; update&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The county finally buried Wade in the pauper&&num;8217&semi;s graveyard on July 14&comma; next to other unclaimed bodies&period; His mother didn&&num;8217&semi;t learn details about his death until a new investigator took over the case in August&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ultimately&comma; she paid the &dollar;250 fee to claim her son&&num;8217&semi;s body&period; Still&comma; she waited weeks to learn his burial place&period; In early October&comma; she finally visited his temporary resting place&comma; plot No&period; 672&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Unfortunately&comma; this isn’t Bettersten’s first tragic encounter with Jackson PD&period; In 2019&comma; her 62-year-old brother died after <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wlbt&period;com&sol;2022&sol;08&sol;17&sol;former-jpd-officer-anthony-fox-sentenced-5-years-beating-death-george-robinson&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">former Jackson officer Anthony Fox<&sol;a> slammed him to the ground during an arrest&period; The brother&comma; George Robinson&comma; suffered a fatal head injury&period; Fox was convicted of manslaughter but is currently appealing&comma; per NBC&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While speaking to NBC&comma; Bettersten said she can&&num;8217&semi;t help but wonder if her son’s death had anything to do with her brother’s and the allegations she made against the police in that case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;Maybe it was a vendetta&period; Maybe they buried my son to get back at me&comma;&&num;8221&semi; the mother said&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>The mother is now raising money to give her son a proper burial&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode&equals;"Cy12vKvJDU9" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"600" data-captioned><&sol;amp-instagram><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h5 style&equals;"text-align&colon; 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Maya M.

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