As questions mount around the death of Nolan Wells, two other Mississippi families are living with a nightmare of their own. Years later, they are still searching for answers after their loved ones were found headless.
Jeremy Jerome Jackson and Rasheem Carter were found dead in Mississippi five years apart. Both men were found with their heads detached from their bodies.
Now, in 2026, questions are resurfacing about whether their families will ever get the justice they have been waiting for.
Jeremy Jerome Jackson
Jackson was found dead on June 10, 2017, in Jackson, Mississippi, at two different locations.
Police said children found the 30-year-old’s severed head on the front porch of a house. Less than a mile away, his badly burned body was found in a wooded area.
Johnny Jackson told WLBT that his brother was a student at Jackson State University and had three children. Jackson believed his brother’s head was severed as “a message sent to somebody.”
“You just don’t kill somebody in the bushes, then take their head and put it on display,” said Jackson. “They displayed him, and you could ride down the street and see it on the step. To me, it was a message sent to somebody.”
Autopsy results later revealed Jackson’s head was severed while he was still alive. He also suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
Jackson police offered a $20,000 reward for information that led to an arrest. The FBI, DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office also helped with the case.
However, nearly 10 years later, there have been no updates or arrests.
Rasheem Carter
Five years after Jackson was found dead, Rasheem Carter’s skeletal remains were discovered on November 2, 2022, on a property in Smith County. The 25-year-old’s family reported him missing a month earlier.
Tiffany Carter told Atlanta Black Star that her last communication with her son came when he texted her about being harassed by white men.
“He told me the night before he was in danger,” she said, adding, “he told me it was three trucks of white men trying to harm him.” The men were allegedly hurling racial slurs at him.
According to Laurel Police Chief Tommy Cox, Carter also told local authorities about the threats. He reportedly contacted Taylorsville police twice before his disappearance.
A Gruesome Death
Smith County Sheriff Joel Houston initially said there was “no reason” to suspect foul play in Carter’s death. However, Carter’s mother and attorney Ben Crump fought back against those claims.
“His head was severed from his body,” Crump claimed during a press conference. “His vertebrae, his spinal cord, was in another spot they discovered away from his severed head.”
Crump also claimed someone tried to use Carter’s credit card after his death had already been determined.
Carter’s mother called on the Department of Justice to investigate her son’s death, along with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Three years later, no arrests have been made in the case.
“God knows, and God will deal with everyone according to what they have done,” said Carter.
Jackson and Carter’s deaths are a stark reminder of Mississippi’s history, where the deaths of Black people have too often lingered without satisfying answers.
