Case dismissed against Mississippi child who was arrested for urinating in public, family attorney says

By Jade Gordon, CNN

(CNN) — A Mississippi judge has dismissed the case against a child who was arrested in August for public urination, according to an attorney for the child’s family.

Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow dismissed the case against Quantavious Eason, now 11, who was arrested for urinating in a Senatobia parking lot, family attorney Carlos Moore said Monday.

Quantavious was arrested and transported to the Senatobia Police Department after he relieved himself on private property near his mother’s vehicle, because signs said there were no public restrooms, CNN previously reported.

The boy’s mother, LaTonya Eason, said at a news conference in September an officer who was driving by spotted her son, stopped and went inside the business to look for her. Eason said she admonished her son – who was then 10 years old – for his behavior and the officer seemed satisfied.

Then, other officers arrived, including a lieutenant, Eason said, and her son was arrested. Eason asked for an apology and the firing of several officers involved in the incident.

Quantavious was sentenced to three months’ probation and assigned a two-page book report on the late NBA player Kobe Bryant during a December youth court hearing, Moore told CNN at the time. Eason was not declared delinquent or in need of supervision and was non-adjudicated, Moore said.

Days later, Moore responded, saying the boy’s 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. 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.

The same day, the attorney filed a motion to have the case dismissed, stating it “should be dismissed in its entirety because the arresting officer has been terminated for executing an improper arrest on the minor.”

The filing also noted that Eason was 10, with no criminal record and with the “mental culpability” of a child that age.

The officer involved with the August incident was terminated about 10 days after Eason’s arrest. The Senatobia Police Department did not release the officer’s name.

“The officer’s decisions violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations,” an August statement from the Senatobia police chief said. The other officers would be disciplined, it added.

CNN has reached out to the police department and the mayor’s office for comment.

Senatobia is in northern Mississippi, less than 30 miles south of the Tennessee state line.

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