Case Dropped Against Mississippi Child Arrested For Public Urination
A case involving a child who was arrested for public urination has been dismissed by a Mississippi judge, CNN reports.
Judge Rusty Harlow of Tate County Youth Court dismissed the case against Quantavious Eason, 11, in Tate County Youth Court on Monday (Feb. 5).
Carlos Moore, an attorney representing Quantavious and his mother LaTonya Eason, confirmed that a legal victory in a brief statement.
“There is no pending case against this child in Youth Court any further concerning urination,” said Moore, according to local station WREG.
“Judge Rusty Harlow found Quantavious Eason not to be a child in need of supervision and he dismissed the petition that was filed by Tate County to have him determined to be a child that needs supervision,” Moore added.
Although she is glad for the victory in court, LaTonya Eason, the mother of Quantavious, said that her son still suffers from trauma as a result of the incident.
“I’m very pleased that they did dismiss what was going on with my baby,” LaTonya Eason said.
In August, Quantavious was arrested and transported to the Senatobia Police Department after he relieved himself on private property near his mother’s vehicle because they could not locate a public restroom.
Harlow ruled in December that Quantavious would have to write a two-page book report on the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, serve three months probation, and or be designated a “child in need of supervision.”
Following the arrest of Quantavious, Moored noted that his family refused to sign the probation agreement.
“We cannot in good conscience accept a probation agreement that treats a 10-year-old child as a criminal,” Moore said in a statement at the time.” The terms proposed are not in the best interest of our client, and we will take all necessary steps to challenge them,” Moore said in a statement at the time.
Moored went on to file a motion to have the case dismissed, arguing that it “should be dismissed in its entirety because the arresting officer has been terminated for executing an improper arrest on the minor.”
Also in the filing, he said that Quantavious had no criminal record and the “mental culpability” of a young child.
The officer who arrested Quantavious was fired about 10 days after the incident. The name of the officer had not been released by the Senatobia Police Department.
“The officer’s decisions violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations,” Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler said in a statement in August.
The other unidentified officers would be disciplined, the statement added.
Moore, who claimed the incident was racially motivated, plans to file a lawsuit against the city, the officers involved in Quantavious’ arrest, and the chief of police.