The family of a 16-year-old girl in Chicago is suing the city, two officers and the Chicago Board of Education in federal court for a violent incident at a high school in January where they believe the girl's civil rights were violated.
"The Board of Education and CPD continue to fail our children. An unarmed 16-year-old girl was beaten, kicked, punched and tasered by officers," the victim, Dnigma Howard's lawyer, Andrew M. Stroth, said in a statement obtained by The Chicago Sun-Times.
Per BuzzFeed News, Dnigma was initially reprimanded for allegedly being on her cellphone during class. Her father, Laurentino Howard, was phoned by administrators at Marshall High School to pick up his daughter after her last final exam.
Surveillance video obtained by The Chicago Sun-Times details the incident. Howard watches on as officers push his child toward the staircase and begin using excessive force. The first officer, Johnnie Pierre, appears to grab Dnigma by the wrist and force her down the stairs. Sherry Tripps, the second officer, forces herself on top of the student shortly after. Finally, the officers tased the girl three times as she lay on the ground. Per Howard, the deputies informed him he was not allowed to mediate the situation.
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Details from this video negate the original statements filed by the officers following the January 29 attack in which they claim Dnigma initiated contact, forcing all three to fall down the stairs. Consequently, the young girl was charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery. The Chicago Sun-Times notes the charges were dropped on February 6.
"If she would have been convicted of those charges it would have ruined this young lady’s life but thank god for the video because the video clearly showed what happened," Stroth said to BuzzFeed on Thursday.
NBC Chicago reports the Civilian Office of Police Accountability is handling the probe of this case, so representatives at the Chicago Police Department are not authorized to comment on the investigation. Officers Pierre and Tripp have not been reprimanded for their actions, either. One deputy was reassigned to another district, while the other is away "injured on duty."
Dnigma has since transferred to another school but still carries the trauma of that episode to this day.
"She don't trust nobody no more," Howard confessed to NBC Chicago. "(She) sees officers and cringes. (It's) not right."
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