Race played role in sentencing of Black child, 10, for urinating in public, lawyer says

A 10-year-old Black child in Mississippi who urinated in public in August was sentenced Tuesday in youth court to three months' probation, a decision the child’s attorney says was influenced by race.

Quantavious Eason, who is in the third grade, was arrested by Senatobia police Aug. 10 after a police officer saw him relieving himself outside next to his mom’s car when the woman was inside an attorney’s office, according to family attorney Carlos Moore.

Given the circumstances, any child would have done the same thing, Moore said. He noted there was no public restroom at the attorney’s office.

Moore said he’s baffled that an arrest was made, that prosecutors then pursued the case and that a youth judge this week oversaw a sentence that included probation and requiring Quantavious to write a two-page report about Kobe Bryant.

Quantavious was charged in youth court with being a child in need of supervision, Moore said. The child is required to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months, Moore said.

Officials with Senatobia police and the city could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The youth prosecutor and youth judge who oversaw the case were also not reached.

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