Current:Home > Invest'Error in judgement:' Mississippi police apologize for detaining 10-year-old -Excel Wealth Summit
'Error in judgement:' Mississippi police apologize for detaining 10-year-old
View
Date:2025-04-16 09:19:25
Mississippi police who detained a 10-year-old boy for public urination are apologizing for the incident and calling it an "error in judgement."
The boy’s mother, Latonya Eason, tells WHBQ-TV that she was at an attorney's office in Senatobia, just south of Memphis, when a police officer came in and told her that he caught her son urinating behind her car outside.
Eason said she asked her son Quantavious why he would to that, and he responded by saying that his sister told him there wasn't a bathroom inside. She told him that he knows better and should have asked her if there was a bathroom.
That's when the officer told her: "Since you handled it like a mom, then he can just get back in the car," she told the station, adding that the officer said he was going to give Quantavious a court referral.
Eason thought the matter was resolved but then more police officers pulled up, and things took a turn for the worse.
'Speechless'
When more police arrived, Eason said a lieutenant told the family that the boy had to go to jail for urinating in public.
"I'm just speechless right now. Why would you arrest a 10-year-old kid?" she told the station. “For one officer to tell my baby to get back in the car, it was OK — and to have the other pull up and take him to jail. Like, no."
The whole thing had the boy shaken up, he told the station.
"I get scared and start shaking and thinking I am going to jail," he said.
A photo posted to social media shows the boy sitting in the back of a patrol car.
"I started crying a little bit," he said. "They took me down there and got me out of the truck. I didn't know what was happening."
He said he was held in a jail cell before being turned back over to his mother.
"That could really traumatize my baby," Eason said. "My baby could get to the point where he won't want to have an encounter with the police period."
Michigan:Michigan police chief, mayor apologize after arrest video of 12-year-old boy goes viral
Pranks:11-year-old Florida girl arrested after falsely reporting kidnapping as a prank, officials say
'Error in judgement'
Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler issued a statement once word got out about the case and cited the state's Youth Court Act, which he said allows officers to file referrals against children as young as 7 years old if they are “in need of supervision" or 10 years old "if they commit acts that would be illegal for an adult."
In this case, Chandler said an officer saw Quantavious urinating in public, which is illegal for an adult.
"The officer did not observe a parent on the scene during the initial contact," he said, adding that Eason was found shortly after. "The officers then transported the 10-year-old to the police station to complete the paperwork where the child was released to the mother. The child was not handcuffed during this incident."
He continued: “It was an error in judgement for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative.”
Chandler said that "mistakes like this" are a reminder that continuous training is needed for officers.
Neither Eason nor the Senatobia Police Department immediately responded to USA TODAY for requests for further comment Wednesday.
veryGood! (75251)
Related
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- 50 wonderful things from 2022
- Why an iPhone alert is credited with saving a man who drove off a 400-foot cliff
- She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- This artist stayed figurative when art went abstract — he's finally recognized, at 99
- Investigators pore over evidence from the home of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer as search ends
- Saquon Barkley agrees to one-year contract with Giants, ending standoff with team
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Athletic trainers save lives. But an alarming number of high schools don't employ them
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Ian Tyson, half of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia, has died at age 89
- Three found dead at campsite were members of Colorado Springs family who planned to live ‘off grid’
- UPS reaches tentative contract with 340,000 unionized workers, potentially dodging calamitous strike
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- 'Wait Wait' for Dec. 31, 2022: Happy Holidays Edition!
- Raven-Symoné Reveals She Has Psychic Visions Like That's So Raven Character
- AMC stock pushed higher by 'Barbie', 'Oppenheimer' openings, court decision
Recommendation
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Noah Baumbach's 'White Noise' adaptation is brave, even if not entirely successful
Defense wants Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s long-dead father exhumed to prove paternity
'Visualizing the Virgin' shows Mary in the Middle Ages
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
Biden honors Emmett Till and his mother with new national monument
How do I stop a co-worker who unnecessarily monitors my actions? Ask HR
Banned Books: Author Susan Kuklin on telling stories that inform understanding