The family of a man who was found dead is calling for a federal probe into his death, arguing that the police explanation that "there was no foul play" does not hold water.
A recently released independent autopsy report on Rasheem Carter's body found that he had been decapitated, pointing to a gruesome murder.
He had previously reported that he was targeted by a group of white men who followed him shouting racial slurs. His family are now urging the US Department of Justice to open a federal investigation into his death.
During a press conference, attorney Ben Crump stated that "this was not a natural killing. This was not a natural death. This represents a young man who was killed."
The family is seeking justice for Carter and wants those responsible for his death to be held accountable.
"This doesn't seem like the act of just one individual," Crump said during a press conference. "It kind of lines up with what Tiffany said, there was a lynch mob of three trucks chasing her son before he went missing."
Rasheem Carter, a Black man from Mississippi, claimed he was being targeted by white men in his community, and, only days after he disclosed the troubling situation to his mother and the police, he went missing in October 2022.
Carter was allegedly followed and harassed, before he was found dead in a wooded area near Taylorsville, Mississippi.
His family is sceptical of law enforcement's handling of the case and has hired a private investigator, who has made some disturbing allegations, including the possibility of genital mutilation.
When Rasheem Carter called his mother in a panic, he told her that some white guys were following him in three trucks and yelling racial slurs, and he feared they would hurt him, Mother Jones reported.
His mother, Tiffany Carter, stayed on the phone with him as he went to the Taylorsville police station for help.
She heard him tell the officers that he was being followed and ask them for a ride back to his hotel in Laurel, but an officer refused because Laurel was out of their jurisdiction.
She heard someone say he couldn’t stay at the station, that he had to leave.
Tiffany Carter did not believe the sheriff's explanation that her son wandered onto someone's land and died.
When Carter's body was found, the Smith County Sheriff's Office initially said there was no reason to believe foul play was involved in his death, a claim the family is denouncing.
The independent autopsy revealed that Carter's head was severed from his body, with his spinal cord recovered in a separate area from his head.
The medical examiner ruled that the cause and manner of death couldn't be determined due to the condition of the remains at the time of the autopsy and signs of animal activity on the remains.
The autopsy report also indicated fractures in Carter's bones but did not detail how clean the breaks were.
The report also did not provide conclusive evidence regarding the claims of genital mutilation, as the medical examiner only received bones.
The attorney stated that the skull contained no teeth.
But the family's private investigator made disturbing allegations, including that Carter's bones were broken in smooth cuts, possibly inconsistent with an animal attack, and that his severed penis was found decomposed in his mouth.
These allegations were not confirmed by the autopsy report.
Attorney Ben Crump called for the US Department of Justice to open a federal investigation into Carter's death.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation assists in the investigation of Carter's death, and the investigation continues with some of Carter's body parts still missing.
