On April 29, relatives of Rasheem Carter, a 25-year-old African American man found dead and decapitated in Mississippi, staged a protest in Taylorsville, Mississippi. They called for justice after the discovery of more human remains linked to Carter.
The family members, unhappy with the handling of the case by the police and accusing them of obstructing the investigation, organized the demonstration themselves.
In October 2022, Rasheem’s mother, Tiffany Carter, who lives in the neighboring town of Fayette, filed a missing person report after receiving a call from her son, who expressed fear due to being harassed by a group of white men in trucks. Tiffany shared her son’s account of being chased by three truckloads of white men with malicious intent during a recent press conference. She advised him to seek safety at the nearest police station.
Chief Tommy Cox of the Laurel Police Department, who managed the initial missing person case at the family’s request, confirmed that Carter had visited the Taylorsville Police Department twice before disappearing. A month later, his remains were found in a wooded area near Taylorsville. While the authorities did not initially suspect foul play, they continued their investigation.
National civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Carter family, had previously disclosed that Rasheem’s head had been severed from his body, with some body parts still missing.
The family believes Carter’s death was a “modern-day lynching” and seeks more information from law enforcement. In March, the police stated there was no evidence of homicide, suggesting instead that animals may have caused the damage to his body.
A deer camera captured images of Carter in the Mississippi woods on the day he was reported missing. In an interview with Insider, Tiffany Carter expressed her conviction that her son was desperately trying to survive.
On Thursday, Attorney Crump released a statement announcing that the Mississippi Crime Lab had informed the family about another set of remains, found in February, that were related to Carter.
The family is now calling for a federal investigation into Carter’s death.
