The following article was originally published by Gwen Leigh from the World Socialist Web Site on January 9, 2024.
A horrifying situation is unfolding in Jackson, Mississippi, where 215 bodies were recently discovered in unmarked graves behind a state jail. The families of those buried, in what is known as the “pauper’s field” behind the Hinds County Penal Farm, were never informed of the death of their loved ones, let alone given the chance to retrieve their bodies and pay their respects.
The extent and scope of this travesty and utter disregard for human life is still largely being kept under wraps. However, what has been reported thus far is chilling. The gravesites of the victims are identifiable only by a number and a metal rod. The bodies were not embalmed, given coffins, or properly buried. The graves were dug by inmates and it is likely the burials were carried out by the same inmates.
One activist, known as Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed, who has been outspoken on the events, described a morbid scene at the burial ground when visiting, reporting that buzzards fly overhead, attracted to the disturbing stench that emanates from the improper burials and shallow graves.
The shocking revelation was unearthed only due to the persistence of Bettersten Wade, who spent seven months looking for her middle child, Dexter Wade, who suddenly went missing in March 2023. Bettersten would not find out the truth about her son until October 2023. Dexter had been killed shortly after leaving his mother’s home, hit by a Jackson police car while crossing a nearby interstate highway.
Police were aware of Dexter’s identity, as he was killed with identification on him, and yet still failed to notify the family. Instead, the police department let Dexter’s body remain unclaimed for months in the county morgue.
Bettersten repeatedly called the Jackson Police Department to ask the police if they had any information on her son after officially reporting him missing to the police on March 14, 2023, just days after he went missing. The grieving mother emailed pictures of her son to the police and requested they show the photo on television. Finding no help from the authorities, she took to social media to appeal to the public to look out for her missing son.
Bettersten reported to NBC News that the decision to call the police was difficult for her because of her lack of trust in the department. Her 62-year-old brother died at the hands of the Jackson police in 2019 when an officer slammed him to the ground. The officer was convicted of manslaughter but is appealing.
It was not until August, several months later, when a new investigator took over Dexter’s case and finally notified the Wade family of the death. It took Bettersten two more months before she could track down her son’s body in the pauper’s field. Moreover, like the other victims buried in the same plot, it cost the Wade family a $250 fee to claim Dexter’s body.
On a Tuesday afternoon in early October, accompanied by a sheriff’s deputy and two inmates in jumpsuits, Bettersten, her sister and daughter were taken to plot No. 672 where Dexter was buried. Dexter Wade was the father of two girls.
Since the initial revelation, several more harrowing stories have come to light over the bodies buried at the Hinds County Penal Farm.
Marquita Moore was notified of the death of her older brother, Marrio Terrell Moore, 40, from an online article revealing cases of two dozen homicide victims in which the Jackson police had failed to notify the public or the families. Moore’s brother was the second on the list.
