The case against a north Mississippi boy who was taken into custody for urinating in public has been dropped.
Tate County youth court judge Rusty Harlow on Monday dismissed a petition to designate 11-year-old Quantavious Eason as a child in need of supervision, effectively ending a prior probation set for the adolescent. Carlos Moore, the attorney representing Eason, lauded this development as a win for juveniles seeking justice in future cases.
“This outcome is not just a victory for Eason and his family, but for juvenile justice advocates everywhere,” Moore stated.
Back in December, Harlow ordered the child to serve three months probation and to write an essay about the late NBA Hall of Fame basketball player, Kobe Bryan — a set of conditions the boy’s mother, Latoya Eason, did not agree with. Nonetheless, Monday’s ruling ultimately ended the case against the 11-year-old.
Quantavious Eason was jailed by Senatobia police in August for allegedly urinating in public while his mother was consulting an attorney about a legal matter at a law office near the Tate County courthouse.
The child’s mother was informed by a police officer that her son had been spotted urinating in the parking lot of the law office.
Latonya stated that when asked for his reasoning, Quantavious explained that he went behind his mother’s car after his sister said that the office did not have a restroom.
She then reprimanded her child, resulting in the officer saying that Quantavious would only be issued a court referral and could get back in Eason’s vehicle.
Additional officers arrived shortly after, with a lieutenant later stating that the then 10-year-old was going to be arrested and placed in the back of a cop car for public urination. Quantavious was subsequently transported to the police department and released after his mother completed the required paperwork.
Following the controversy that surrounded the minor’s arrests, Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler stated in a social media post that the officer involved, who has not been named, is “no longer employed” with the department following an internal investigation.
The Eason family plans to pursue litigation against the city of Senatobia and the police officers involved in the child’s detainment.
