Mississippi Man Allegedly Dismembers Mother’s Body Before Trying To Flush Her Flesh Down The Toilet

A Mississippi man was arrested after allegedly attempting to dispose of his mother’s remains. Police found a disturbing crime scene at the woman’s home, where she had lived as a retired teacher. Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten told local CBS affiliate WJTV that the evidence was “the most heinous crime that I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life.”

The man has been identified as Zachary Lavel Jackson Jr., 29. He now faces charges of first- and second-degree murder, mayhem, and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his mother, Lana Brown Bradley, 62.

According to WJTV, the woman lived with her two younger sons, one of them being Jackson. On April 4, when the incident happened, Bradley’s middle son was working outside, while the oldest son had been trying to get in touch with her for two days.

When he could not get a hold of his mother, he called the police to do a welfare check at her residence in Natchez, Mississippi. According to the Adams County Sheriff, upon arriving at the home, deputies immediately noticed the foul smell of chemicals. He noted that it seemed like “somebody had been cleaning up.”

Patten told WJTV that the floor was “extremely slippery." And the older son said that this is just unusual for the youngest son to be cleaning up the house like that.” Meanwhile, the mother was nowhere to be found.

The sheriff further told the outlet that when investigators searched the house, a splash was heard inside a bathroom that was locked. According to authorities, inside the bathroom, Jackson was found along with a toilet filled with a “black substance.”

Patten later confirmed that the substance was, in fact, Bradley’s flesh, and Jackson was allegedly trying to flush it down the toilet.

Authorities said, “He chopped her up into pieces. He dismembered her in a way that whoever came looking for her was going to have to do their due diligence, and they were going to have to go above and beyond to find her. And that's what we did."

After police canvassed the surrounding areas, a head was found along with some more body parts in a suitcase. Family members told authorities that Jackson was mentally unstable, but the sheriff noted that he was “very calculating” while killing his mother.

Patten told the outlet that Bradley was scared for her life with Jackson in the house and was planning to evict him. The day before, she was found dead, and the man allegedly threatened his mother.

Jackson is currently in custody at the Adams County Jail. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing on April 29.