When Bettersten Wade’s son Dexter went missing in March of 2023, she had no choice but to turn to the Jackson Mississippi police department for help. Bettersten rightly already had her issues with the police – four years prior an officer had been charged with manslaughter for killing her brother – but not even she could have imagined the fate that had befallen her son.


@crimewithkourt What is going on in Jackson, Mississippi?? 215 bodies just discovered BURIED behind a jail.. #truecrime #truecrimecommunity #truecrimetiktok #215bodies #jacksonmississippi #hindscounty #dexterwade #fyp #breakingnews ♬ original sound - Crime With Kourt


Dexter was one of 215 bodies that have since been discovered in unmarked graves behind the Hinds County Detention Center and Hinds County Penal Farm.


"We know, based on the records from the coroner's office, that, since 2016, in the last eight years, we can identify 215 individuals that were buried behind that jail, and their families have not been notified," attorney and civil rights lawyer Ben Crump told PBS NewsHour.


“How is this not national news!?? This is so disturbing and Jackson PD should be held accountable,” Frankie Graham commented on TikTok.


And while it took Bettersten Wade months to learn about her son’s fate, the Jackson police department knew just moments after his death; when he was struck and killed by an off-duty cop in an SUV. The Hinds County Coroner's office confirmed his identity just days later, but despite multiple desperate calls for information, Bettersten was consistently told there were no updates. Dexter also reportedly had his driver’s license in his front pocket when he was hit.



"The accident was investigated and it was determined that it was in fact an accident and that there was no malicious intent," Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said. The officer is not facing any consequences.


“The entire state of Mississippi needs to be investigated,” Mel commented on TikTok.


The gravesite “is not a secret burial ground," the city's director of communications stated, and “those graves are the bodies of those who went unclaimed by family when they died.” The 215 victims were found in body bags, with nothing but numbers on metal poles to identify their resting place. Dexter was number 672, and to say his family had no intention of claiming him is dead wrong. In fact, Bettersten was forced to pay a $250 fee to acquire his remains.


“Only 215 bodies found but his grave was #672?” Brandy Jonas commented.


“Not enough people are talking about how the victims' families have to BUY THEIR DEAD CHILD BACK,” another person added.


In November, Bettersten Wade was finally able to have a funeral for her son, but how many people are still being denied that right?


“I always loved you and I miss you,” she said. “Farewell, baby. Farewell.”


When it comes to criminal negligence no one does it better than cops.