The mother of the 10-year-old arrested by Mississippi police for urinating in public is not backing down. After previously contesting the child’s probation terms, she just filed a $2 million federal lawsuit against the police department.
Quantavious Eason, now 11, was apprehended by Senatobia police in August after he relieved himself outside his mother’s car while he waited for her to come out of an attorney’s office, per NBC. The third grader wasn’t handcuffed but was taken to the station in a patrol car despite his mother being present and able to transport him herself.
Latonya Eason previously stated in a press conference that her son was placed in a holding cell for an hour while his paperwork was being processed. Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler said his employees violated department policy regarding how to handle juveniles.
“The incident triggered an internal complaint and was investigated according to our procedures. As a result of this investigation, one of the officers is no longer employed and the other will be disciplined. We will also have mandatory Juvenile training department-wide,” the chief’s statement read via Facebook.
Terminating the officer in question wasn’t enough for Latonya, though. Now, she’s taking justice into her own hands.
Read more about her lawsuit from NBC:
The suit filed Wednesday in federal court in Mississippi alleges excessive force, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to train and supervise, false arrest and malicious prosecution.
The child’s mother, Latonya Eason, is named as the plaintiff. Named as defendants are the city of Senatobia, its police chief Richard Chandler, the arresting officer who is no longer with the force, and four officers who were not named.
The suit comes after the child was given a court order to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months following the incident. He was also required to write a two-page report about Kobe Bryant, according to attorney Carlos Moore.
Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow dismissed the petition seeking to classify Quantavious as “a child in need of supervision,” the report says.