A text message and phone call voiced 25-year-old Rasheem Carter’s concerns that racist white men in three trucks were hunting him. Yet, Mississippi authorities didn’t suspect foul play after finding his dismembered body, minimizing his death to an animal attack.
Rasheem’s family (and the Black community) are calling bullsh*t and asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice to get involved.
At a press conference on March 13 in Jackson, MS, Tiffany Carter and Attorney Ben Crump publicized information they received on Rasheem’s death, including the results of an independent autopsy.
Crump held a poster containing photos of what appeared to be Rasheem’s skull. Crump shared that Rasheem’s head was severed from his body.
“This was not a natural kill. This was not a natural death,” Crump said. “This represents a young man who was killed. His head was severed from his body. His vertebrae, his spinal cord [were] in another spot they discovered away from his severed head.”
He continued, “They have recently found remains that they believe are also Rasheem Carter at another part of where he went missing. And what that tells us is that this was a nefarious act. This was an evil act. Somebody murdered Rasheem Carter. And we cannot let them get away with this.”
Crump and Tiffany added that they believed some crucial details surrounding Rasheem’s death were being swept under the rug.
According to The Washington Post, Smith County Sheriff Joel Houston denied their claims. He said nothing was “swept under the rug or hidden in nature,” adding that they invited the DOJ to assist in the investigation.
Houston also told the Vicksburg Daily that Rasheem didn’t inform the police that he was in danger.
However, as News Onyx previously reported, Rasheem arrived at the Taylorsville Police Station on Oct. 1 and 2, seeking help from officers because he feared his life was in danger while his mother was on the phone, listening to him tell the same people who swore to protect citizens. He even asked them for a ride to Motel 8, his temporary residence.
Rasheem had worked for Georgia Pacific and usually got a ride from a co-worker, but the person refused to give him a ride for an unknown reason.
Police turned Rasheem away, claiming his motel was out of their jurisdiction. They reportedly offered him a phone charger, which didn’t fit, but that’s the extent of the police department’s help.
At the press conference, Tiffany read the last text she received from her son on Oct. 1 after she got off the phone with him. He gave her his boss’s name and warned her to remember it if something happened to him.
“Me and the owner of this company not seeing eye-to-eye, mama. His name, which I can’t say at this time. If anything happens to me, he’s responsible for it. I’m too smart, mama. He got these guys wanting to kill me,” the text read.
Rasheem also told his mother about the “three truckloads of white men” chasing him. She sent her best friend to pick him up, but when they arrived, Rasheem was nowhere to be found.
Tiffany reported her son missing the same week, and a month later, his remains were found off highway 37 at the Deer Park.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and local are working on the case.
