A family is demanding answers after the body of a young Black man in Mississippi was found dismembered shortly after he told his mother he was being followed.
Rasheem Carter disappeared on October 2nd, 2022. He phoned his mother, Tiffany Carter, frantically telling her that a group of white men was following him and hurling racial slurs at him. Carter said the truckloads of men were trying to kill him. Carter also said he’d tried getting help from the police, though local law enforcement said they hadn’t received any reports from him. Sadly, that fateful call home was the last time anyone had heard from the 25-year-old. A month later, on November 2nd, 2022, his remains were located in a wooded area south of Taylorsville.
A trail cam video from the day Carter was reported missing shows him “running for his life” shirtless through the woods. No one was seen following him in the footage, though he appears to be carrying a large branch. There also appear to be bruises on his body in the clip. Tiffany believed something was gravely wrong in the footage taken shortly after 4:30 p.m.
“I really believe he was chased there,” Tiffany told Insider.
On Monday, civil rights attorney Ben Crump called out the Smith County Sheriff’s Department, who has stated they don’t suspect foul play despite Carter’s body being found in pieces. Crump is now calling on the Justice Department to investigate his death as a hate crime. The lawyer shared photos of Carter’s skeletonized remains, revealing that he’d been decapitated and his spinal cord was located a short distance from his skull. The autopsy findings concluded Carter’s death was not natural.
“What we have is a Mississippi lynching,” Crump added.
A GoFundMe account has been established to assist the family in seeking justice for the college grad.
