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The longtime elected coroner in Hinds County, Mississippi, who faced withering criticism last year for burying men in pauper's graves without notifying their families, is stepping down early. Sharon Grisham-Stewart, a Democrat, announced Monday that she would retire Dec. 31, three years before the end of her current term. The mother of one of those men, Jonathan Hankins, confronted Grisham-Stewart in February at the county's pauper's field. And the Justice Department stepped in, saying it would help authorities in Hinds County and Jackson improve their death notification procedures. Grisham-Stewart was first elected as Hinds County coroner in 1999 and last won re-election in 2023.

Persons: Sharon Grisham, Stewart, Grisham, Jonathan Hankins, Gretchen Hankins, Jackson, Robert Graham, Graham, She's, Dexter Wade, Marrio Moore, Hankins Organizations: Democrat, NBC, WLBT, Supervisors, Police, Justice Department, of Supervisors, NBC News Locations: Hinds County , Mississippi, Hinds, Jackson, Hinds County

Through her sobs, she said she heard the coroner’s office worker give two details that she thought couldn’t possibly be true. In a court filing, the coroner’s office denied negligence in the Pfantz case. “When I post on NamUs, I am saying the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has failed, and I need your help,” Yates said. “Why was he left in the coroner’s office for three and a half months to just rot?” Pendar said in an interview. The county agency, like most of California’s coroner’s offices, does not post the names of unclaimed dead to NamUs.

Persons: America’s, ”, Erin Kimmerle, “, Bettersten Wade, Dexter Wade, he’d, Marrio Moore, Moore’s, Jonathan Hankins, who’d, Benjamin Pfantz, Craig Mulcahy, aren’t, Michelle Clark, who’s, ’, William Swanton, William Swanton's, Swanton, Catherine Swanton, William Swanton’s, Kimmerle, Sherry Pfantz, Theron, wasn’t, Pfantz, couldn’t, ” Pfantz, Theron Pfantz, They’d, NBC News Sherry Pfantz, she’d, hadn’t, Benjamin L, —, Dwight McKenna, ” “, ” Theron Pfantz, McKenna, ” McKenna, “ It’s, Richard Trahant, ” Trahant, Sherry, NamUs, Benjamin, ” Craig Mulcahy, coroners, Chuck Heurich, Heurich, ” Heurich, ” Leford “, ” Williams, Dawit, Leford Williams, Leford “, Williams, LJ Williams, Geneva Gee, Gee, ” Gee, wouldn't, NBC News Williams, Sinai Beth Israel, Bill Yates, Yates, ” Yates, Malong Pendar, Njawa, Pendar, “ We’re, Pendar’s, “ We’ve Organizations: NBC, University of South, NBC News, Crime Information, Google, Coroner's, NamUs, Medical, Orleans Parish Coroner’s, New, Orleans, New Orleans City, City Council, “, National Institute of Justice, New York City’s, York City’s, Coroner’s, Medical Examiner, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County Medical Locations: Louisiana, Michigan, California, America, University of South Florida, Jackson , Mississippi, Hinds, Jackson, Hinds County, Orleans, New Orleans, Mississippi, NamUs, Connecticut, Oregon, Philadelphia, Rhode, Orleans Parish, Beauregard Parish, New, New York City, New York, Sinai, York, Jefferson County , Alabama, Birmingham, Jefferson, Santa Clara , California, Santa Clara County

Instead, they say, the pauper’s burials left them traumatized and damaged their trust in the government. Blame for these botched cases has fallen primarily on the Hinds County coroner’s office and the Jackson Police Department. In an effort to help families find answers, NBC News is publishing a list of pauper’s burials in Hinds County since 2016. The list was provided by the county coroner’s office in response to a public records request. In publishing this list, NBC News is sharing only a person's name, gender, race, date of death, age at death and the date of burial.

Persons: America’s, Dexter Wade, he’d, Jon Schuppe Organizations: NBC, Jackson Police Department ., NBC News Locations: Hinds County , Mississippi, Hinds County, Hinds

Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, each placed an arm around Bettersten Wade as she stood before her son's flower-covered casket under a large cross in the sanctuary. Jackson is majority-Black, has a Black mayor and majority-Black city council and has had Black police chiefs for years, including the chief when Wade was killed. Sharpton said Monday that he had been told that the officer who struck and killed Wade was Black. The Hinds County coroner’s office said it called a number listed for Bettersten Wade but did not hear back. City officials have said the communication breakdown was an accident.

Persons: JACKSON, — Dexter Wade, Bettersten Wade, “, ” Dexter Wade, Wade, Wade’s, Ben Crump, Crump, Wade's, ” Crump, ”, Bennie Thompson, Al Sharpton, Sharpton, Jackson, Dexter, ” Sharpton, Black Organizations: Jackson Police Department, Police, Penal, Justice Department, Jackson, U.S . Rep, New Horizon International, National Action Network, NBC News Locations: Miss, Mississippi's, Jackson, Hinds, Raymond, New York, Mississippi, Black, Hinds County

☆ A Mother’s Search for Her Son Leads to a Pauper’s Grave and More Questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Rick Rojas | More About Rick Rojas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For months, Bettersten Wade called the police in Jackson, Miss., desperate for any update or sign that detectives were making progress in tracking down Dexter, her 37-year-old son who left their home one day in March and vanished. They never seemed any closer to finding him, she said. And yet, records show that investigators for the Jackson Police Department knew exactly where Dexter Wade was. An off-duty police officer driving an SUV had struck and killed him on the same day that his mother last saw him, according to officials and coroner’s records. A deputy coroner said he was identified by a bottle of prescription medication he was carrying and through fingerprints.

Persons: Bettersten Wade, Dexter, Dexter Wade, Wade Organizations: Jackson Police Department Locations: Jackson, Miss

☆ Calls mount for federal investigation of Mississippi police in Dexter Wade's death
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Al Sharpton are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Wade's death and the Jackson police's handling of it, saying the police failed to notify the family. The last time Wade's mother saw her son was on March 5, when he left her home in the evening, NBC News reported last week. NBC cited interviews with Wade's family members and documents obtained via public records requests, including a crash report, incident reports and coroner’s office records. The investigator said he called Wade's mother and could not get through, and then passed the information to the Jackson Police Department so it could notify Wade's next of kin of his death, NBC reported. Wade's mother filed a missing person report on March 14 and said she nagged the department and begged for help finding her son on Facebook for months, NBC reported.

Persons: Ben Crump, Eduardo Munoz, Dexter Wade, Benjamin Crump, Al Sharpton, Jackson, Wade's, Wade, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Rev, Gabriella Borter, Aurora Ellis Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Department of Justice, NBC News, NBC, Jackson Police Department, The Jackson Police Department, Jackson Mayor, Department, National Action Network, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Mississippi, Jackson, Hinds County, Hinds, Wade

☆ Dexter Wade death: Family asks Justice Department for probe after Jackson police kill man, bury him without their knowledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Ryan Young | Kevin Conlon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Dexter Wade, 37, was reported missing by his mother on March 14 but she did not receive word that he was deceased until August 24. The Jackson Police Department, who confirmed that Wade was struck by a department vehicle, claimed there was no ill-intent in delaying the next-of-kin notification. Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump, center, speaks alongside the family of Dexter Wade during a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, on October 30, 2023. Jackson police said its efforts to notify Wade’s family were stymied by outdated contact information. Crump said in a news release that Wade’s current grave is marked “by a pole and number” in the field.

Persons: –, Dexter Wade, Wade, Jackson, Ben Crump, WAPT “, Wade’s, ”, “, ” Bettersten Wade, Mr, he’d, Crump, ” Crump Organizations: CNN, Jackson Police Department cruiser, Department of Justice, Jackson Police Department, Jackson police, Civil, ” Police Locations: Mississippi, Jackson , Mississippi

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