A Black child who was arrested in Mississippi for public urination has had the case against him dismissed, according to the family’s attorney.
Quantavious Eason, who was 10 at the time, was arrested for urinating in the Senatobia Courthouse parking area in August 2023. The incident occurred while Quantavious was waiting for his mother, LaTonya Eason, at the courthouse, where there was reportedly a sign indicating no public restrooms. At a December hearing, the child was sentenced to probation and required to write a book report about Kobe Bryant.
“Judge Rusty Harlow ruled that Eason is not a child in need of supervision, effectively dismissing the Tate County Youth Court petition against him,” shared family attorney Carlos Moore.
According to CNN, the third grader was disciplined by his mother after being spotted by an officer, but four more officers arrived on the scene, arrested him, and took him to the police station.
The family’s attorney, Carlos Moore, believes that race played a role in Quantavious’ arrest.
“He did what any reasonable person would do: he urinated next to the car behind the door — not exposing himself to anyone,” Moore said, according to NBC. “He would not have been arrested, prosecuted, or sentenced if he was any other color, race, besides Black.”
Eason also believes that her son was treated unfairly. “My son is going through enough getting arrested,” she said, according to People.com. “Then for him [to have] to see a probation officer and then write an essay, I don’t think it’s right or it’s fair.”
The officer involved in the incident was fired about ten days after Quantavious’ arrest. “The officer’s decisions violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations,” the Chief of the Senatobia Police Department said in a statement at the time. “As a result of this investigation, one of the officers involved is no longer employed, and the others will be disciplined. We will also have mandatory Juvenile training department-wide, just as we do every year.”
