US Lab Matches Newly Found Remains to Suspected Mississippi Lynching Case

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Mississippi Crime Laboratory has informed the family of deceased Rasheem Carter that a third set of recovered remains has been matched to their son, attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The family of Rasheem Carter, while still in deep grief, is being denied adequate information and closure from the Mississippi officials overseeing the case," Crump said in the statement.

"From the beginning of this case, they have been misled. At first, when the first of Rasheem’s remains were discovered with his head decapitated from his body, officials told the family that it was animals that killed Rasheem. Then officials admitted they believed he was murdered."

Crump underscored it is unacceptable the family had to find out through an email that more of Rasheem’s remains have been found without being told any other information.

"They continue to be stonewalled at every turn. The family wants to find out what happened to Rasheem and say their goodbyes - they ask that the additional remains be returned to them so they can lay him to rest," he said.

Crump said that Rasheem was likely lynched and the Carter family demands a more thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death last year.

Tiffany Carter, Rasheem's mother, said in a news conference that he called her last October and complained of being followed and chased by white men in trucks who were yelling racial slurs at him in the town of Laurel.

Carter’s remains were found a month after he went missing in the woods about 20 miles away outside of Taylorsville. Officials from the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said they had no reason to believe foul play was involved.

Crump said an autopsy by the state Medical Examiner’s Office found Rasheem’s head had been severed from his body, his spine was found in another place and other body parts were found in different locations, and some of his body parts are still missing.

The medical examiner ruled that the cause and manner of Carter’s death is undetermined.

Crump said Rasheem’s death was a nefarious and evil act and the US Justice Department must take over the investigation as a civil rights case and determine whether what happened classifies as a hate crime.