In Raymond, Mississippi, 215 remains were discovered in a pauper’s graveyard. The graves are marked with metal rods and numbers and are located just outside of Jackson. The burial is intended for persons who have no known family, but relatives say officials never contacted them.
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney, is representing the families of Marrio Moore, Dexter Wade, and Jonathan Hankins, who were all buried in the cemetery without their knowledge.
“It’s as if they just threw him out like trash, as they did with the others,” Gretchen Hankins, Jonathan Hankins’ mother, told Fox affiliate WBLT.
Crump collaborator and activist Arthur Reed recently visited the burial. According to Reed, the corpses are placed in body bags and buried in shallow graves. In an interview with Fox 26’s Isaiah Carey, the activist explained his visit.
“The stink from the bodies is attracting buzzards…”It’s so inhumane for anyone to do that to anyone, Isaiah, it’s just horrible,” he added.
Wade was killed when he was hit by a police vehicle. Despite the fact that the victim was identified, Wade’s family was not informed of his death. The family assumed he was gone until they discovered he was buried at the pauper’s graveyard.
Reverend Hosea Hines, senior pastor of Christ Tabernacle Church and national chairman of the A New Day Coalition of Equity and Black America, talked to The Chicago Crusader and expressed sympathy for the families.
“It really saddens my heart to know that their relatives went that long, some over a year, not knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive and then coming to the realization that they had been buried in a pauper’s grave behind a jailhouse,” she said.
He went on to say that these oversights did not occur when the current Jackson police chief, Joseph Wade, was in charge. According to Hines, the police chief has created a new death notification protocol that will notify relatives and provide details about the deaths of their loved ones.
Crump and his co-counsel, Dennis Sweet, stated their determination to obtain justice for the victims and their families.
“People all across America are scratching their heads in disbelief about what’s happening in Jackson, Mississippi, with this pauper’s graveyard,” Crump said during a press conference.
“We went from talking about non-existent or contaminated water to now talking about the graveyard.” “What is happening in Jackson, Mississippi?”