Carmen Bolden Day has seemingly endured more unnecessary suffering, uncertainty and callous treatment than any mother who has lost her child.
It was bad enough that the body of her son, 25-year-old Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day, wasn’t found off the south bank of the Illinois River until 10 days after he was first reported missing on Aug. 25, and nine days after his car was found in a wooded area in the town of Peru. It was bad enough that it wasn’t until weeks later, and nearly a month since he was reported missing, that Day’s body could actually be identified by the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office. It was bad enough that, while all this was going on, Day’s mother had been basically begging the media to pay her son’s story the same attention that it had paid to Gabby Petito, and she’d been concerned that the authorities had been dragging their feet investigating her son’s disappearance.
But it turns out that even after Day’s body had been identified, Bolden was not immediately allowed to view the body, which she discovered was missing virtually all its vital organs after a second autopsy was performed at the family’s request. Bolden’s attorney, Hallie M. Bezner, also said that the grieving mother had been treated with a gross lack of empathy by the first coroner when she had been informed that a positive ID of her son was underway.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bolden recalled being on the phone with Bezner on Sept. 22 when the unidentified coroner called her on the other line to give her the “good news” that her son’s body was soon to be identified.
Suffice to say, no grieving mother would take the definitive news that her son is dead as “good news.” But what makes matters worse is that after she naturally had more questions concerning the coroner’s office’s process and why it took so long for Day to be identified, the coroner reportedly got frustrated and was egregiously rude in asking her, “Do you want us to identify your son or not?”
Bezner said she was on the line at the time and she rightfully told the coroner he had “no f**king right” to speak to Bolden that way.
A day later, the coroner’s office announced Day had finally been identified, but Bolden said she was informed she would still have to wait to view the body, which was waterlogged to the point where it was missing Day’s eyeballs.
The Sun-Times reported that the “family’s private forensic pathologist could find no brain, according to Day and her attorney. No organs. Neither liver. Nor spleen.” The second autopsy also determined that Day’s jawbone had been “sawed out.”
Bezner said the LaSalle County coroner had explained that the organs were missing because they “completely liquefied.”
“I’m really trying to ask questions and not go down the path of a lot of conspiracy because I think it’s easy to go that way,” Bezner said.
On Sept. 29, Day’s family had gathered at the funeral home where Bolden was finally able to view her son’s body, but her attorney advised against it since he was in such “bad shape.” In the end, Day’s grandmother and one of his brothers were the only ones in the family to see his body. Bolden still isn’t absolutely sure it was her son who was lying in the closed casket, according to the Sun-Times.
Mind you, we still have no idea how Day ended up in the river in the first place.
SEE ALSO:
Jelani Day’s Mother Wants Her Son To Get The Same Attention As Gabby Petito
Before Gabby Petito, Hundreds Of Indigenous Girls Went Missing In Wyoming To Little Media Attention
Rest In Power: Notable Black Folks Who We’ve Lost In 2021
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1. Anthony “A.J.” Johnson, comedian and actor, 56
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2. Michael K. Williams, actor, 54
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3. Carl Bean, gay preacher, 77
🧵More sad news fam…HIV/AIDS activist Archbishop Carl Bean, the founder of Minority AIDS Project and Unity Fellowship Church–often nicknamed the Black gay church for being the country’s 1st Black church affirming of the #LGBTQ community has transitioned and is now an ancestor. pic.twitter.com/r5bOBhyPtj
— Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) September 7, 2021
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13. Rachael Oniga, Nollywood actress, 64
Nigeria has lost an absolute veteran & iconic actress – RIP Rachel Oniga 💔💔🥺 pic.twitter.com/zD3VhRQpyK
— ✨👑 DaddyMO👑✨ (@therealdaddymo1) July 31, 2021
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14. Glen Ford, veteran journalist and Black Agenda Report founder, 71
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21. Consuewella Dotson Africa, MOVE leader, 67
Heartbroken to learn that Consuewella Africa passed away today. She was arrested on Aug 8, 1978 w/ the MOVE 9 + spent 16 yrs in prison. May 13th, 1985, her daughters Netta and Tree were murdered. 2 mos ago, we learned Penn Museum held hostage Tree’s remains. And now she is gone pic.twitter.com/nZSW7Yu2yE
— Krystal Strong (@misskstrong) June 16, 2021
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22. Martha White, civil rights activist, 99
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33. Henrietta Turnquest, pioneering Black woman politician, 73
MARTA is saddened by the passing of Henrietta Turnquest, who was appointed to the MARTA Board in 2003, the first African American woman to be appointed and serve on the MARTA Board of Directors. https://t.co/nTGaNeRfIk pic.twitter.com/CFdMRiFT9h
— MARTA (@MARTAservice) May 4, 2021
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47. Jo Thompson, muscian-singer, 92
Jo Thompson broke racial barriers during the decades she played the piano and sang to audiences from Detroit’s top supper clubs to ones in Cuba, New York, London and Paris during the 1950s. https://t.co/9GGN8Njdx4
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) March 11, 2021
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49. “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, boxing legend, 66
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“They know if we ever let these Black people get equality that they will take over they will be on top of everything” – Frederick K. C. Price pic.twitter.com/NYI11QgTEz
— The Black Detour (@theblackdetour) February 12, 2021
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75. Meredith C. Anding Jr., civil rights icon, 79
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Meredith Anding Jr., one of the Tougaloo College students who attempted to integrate the Jackson Municipal Library in 1961. Thank you for taking a stand for Freedom! Our thoughts and prayers are with the Anding family. pic.twitter.com/HC1tURbUd2
— Medgar&MyrlieEversInstitute (@MMEI63) January 12, 2021
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76. Eric Jerome Dickey, best-selling author, 59
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Jelani Day’s Body Revealed To Be Missing Vital Organs After 2nd Autopsy, Lawyer Reportedly Says
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