Louisville man charged with abuse of a corpse 5 days after body was found wrapped in plastic, duct tape

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville man was arrested Friday and charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence five days after a body was found in the Russell neighborhood wrapped tightly in plastic and duct tape.

Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Matthew Sanders said Chadwick Fleming, 35, was arrested Friday afternoon during a traffic stop at Oak and Dr. W. J. Hodge streets in west Louisville.

Sanders said Fleming was arrested "under his warrant in relation to the homicide," though Fleming isn't charged with murder. Fleming was arraigned on Saturday morning and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Court records show Fleming was charged with assault in 2010 and 2020, both cases related to domestic violence cases.

Police found Mitchell Jackson Jr. dead with multiple gunshot wounds Oct. 20 at South 18th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, according to a written statement from the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. In an earlier news release, LMPD spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said officers responded to a person down in the road just before 9 a.m. Sunday and found the victim.

Police confirmed that duct tape was found on the body. LMPD said in an update Wednesday that they're aware of "all the rumors and speculation floating around online." But those rumors are false, police said, and they believe this was an isolated incident and there haven't been any homicides "similar in nature."

According to an arrest citation, Fleming pulled the victim's body for several blocks through public roadways while the body was tied to the bumper of the vehicle.

Surveillance footage shows the body was hitched to the SUV by his feet. The body also "became loose from the vehicle in the roadway" according to police. Fleming then tried to put the body back in the vehicle without success and fled the scene while leaving the body in the roadway.

JD, a man who lives in the Russell neighborhood, was surprised by the circumstances of the killing.

"That made it seem like something that came off TV in a sense, sort of like Dexter (a TV show)," said JD, who didn't give his last name.

LMPD confirmed that the body was wrapped entirely.

"It's starting to be real brutal," JD said. "Something like that seems more personal to me."

Police are still investigating where the initial shooting happened.

"People are passing through our neighborhood, that doesn't necessarily mean they live in our community, so I'm concerned about people disrespecting Russell," Louisville Metro Councilman Jecorey Arthur (I-4) said to WDRB News on Wednesday. "I'm very concerned about the fact that people think they can disrespect our neighborhood and cause violence here."

Fleming's cash bond was raised to $100,000 on Saturday. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

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