A Black child who relieved himself behind the cover of his mother’s car in a small Mississippi town last summer — and was then arrested for it — will not be sentenced to serve probation after his mother fought back, rejecting terms she said would have unfairly designated her young son as a criminal.
Quantavious Eason, 10, as Law&Crime reported in December, was arrested on Aug. 10 in Sentobia — a town of fewer than 10,000 people — after an officer saw him urinating behind the door of his mother’s parked car, which was parked outside of an attorney’s office. The officer did not handcuff the boy but did place him in a police vehicle and then later, a cell.
When she was interviewed last year, Eason’s mother said it was unconscionable that her child was arrested, let alone ordered to serve probation for doing what “the average child” and “probably some grown men” would have done outside in an emergency. The family’s attorney, Carlos Moore, said the child saw a sign outside stating there were no public restrooms and made the innocent decision.
The child was ordered by Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow Jr., to serve a term of three months probation, which was to include drug testing at the probation officer’s discretion as well as weapons prohibitions. Harlow also ordered the boy to write a book report on late NBA star Kobe Bryant as a penalty.
Eason’s mother refused to sign the probation document when she learned of the conditions the judge ordered.
On Monday, Harlow reversed course, dropping the case and ruling that Eason was not a child “in need of supervision,” which the court would have designated him if the case had continued.
“Exciting news! We’re celebrating a legal victory for juvenile justice as the case against 10-year-old Quantavious Eason is dismissed for public urination,” Moore said in a statement on Facebook Monday after a petition hearing was held in Tate County Youth Court.
The officer who arrested Eason was no longer employed by the Sentobia Police Department a few weeks after the incident, an August. 21, 2023 statement said.
The department did not immediately return a request for a follow-up comment on Tuesday.
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