The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, blamed a communication failure Thursday for a botched investigation that kept a woman from learning that her missing son had been killed by a police car and buried in a pauper’s field.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba made his first public comments about the case in his annual State of the City speech, admitting mistakes and promising changes but also saying there were no indications of police misconduct or “malicious intent” against the dead man, Dexter Wade, or his family.
“It is tragic to lose your child. It is tragic to suffer the consequences of having to bury your child before you pass. But to add insult to that trauma, it is even more difficult to not have the ability to have a proper burial for your child,” Lumumba said.