Dexter Wade should be here right now preparing to celebrate the holiday with his family and friends. Instead, Wade has been laid to rest surrounded by family and friends who are grieving his death after a tumultuous seven months of searching for him. While his death might have been an accident, the responsibility for the heartbreaking search for his body lies strictly with the Jackson Police Department.
According to ABC News, Wade’s family was finally able to hold a proper funeral for their beloved on Monday afternoon. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a double-edged eulogy designed to get two very specific messages across.
It was an honor to stand beside Dexter Wade’s family, community members, and leaders today as they paid their final respects to their loved one who was taken from this earth far too soon. This father, son, and brother who had SO much life left to live will be missed. pic.twitter.com/hJAovsHZ6c
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) November 20, 2023
“I wanted to come for two reasons, Ms. Wade,” Sharpton said, addressing Dexter Wade’s mother, Bettersten Wade Robinson. “I wanted to give words of comfort to the family, but I wanted to give words of discomfort to the state of Mississippi.”
“What happened to Dexter is a disgrace, a national outrage and should be treated as such,” he added. “… His life mattered to his mama, to his daughters and we’re gonna make it matter all over this country.”
During his eulogy for Dexter Wade, a Black man who was fatally struck by an off-duty officer and buried for months without notice to his family, Al Sharpton said he came to the funeral “to give words of comfort to the family” and “words of discomfort to the state of Mississippi.” pic.twitter.com/oCG4t0WMpV
— ABC News (@ABC) November 20, 2023
Wade’s mother and two daughters were in attendance as well as several local activists, but one noted attendee was Tiffany Carter, who is the mother of Rasheem Carter. BOSSIP posted several stories on Rasheem as his suspicious death in Mississippi went largely unmentioned in mainstream media.
Dexter’s mother Bettersten Wade Robinson still believes that Jackson police engaged in a cover-up to protect the off-duty officer who struck and killed Dexter with his vehicle. Family representative and ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump believes the same.
“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,” Crump said in a statement on Thursday. “There is no excuse, not even incompetence, for not notifying a next of kin of an identified man’s death.”
Poignant words from a grieving mother. Bettersten Wade Robinson had to do what no parent should have to do — bury her son. The actions and the months-long denial of information from the Jackson, MS. police are why we are here today. #JusticeForDexterWade
📷: @abc pic.twitter.com/esedRoaVMM
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) November 21, 2023
We will continue to provide updates about this case as more information becomes available to the public. Rest in peace, Dexter Wade.