A grieving father is suing the City of Springfield, claiming cops ‘desecrated his daughter’s ashes’ after they searched a sealed urn in his car.
25-year-old Dartavius Barnes claimed the officers opened the urn containing his 2-year-old daughter’s ashes and even spilled some of the remains during the search.
Bodycam footage of the incident shows Springfield police officers searching the urn during a traffic stop and insisting the container was full of drugs.
The father can be heard crying: “No, no, no, bro, that’s my daughter.”
“What ya’ll doing bro? That’s my daughter!”
The cops are later heard joking about the search saying they had ‘p***** off’ the driver by ‘testing the dead baby ashes.’
According to reports, Barnes’ daughter died of starvation and neglect in 2019. Her mother and her boyfriend are now in jail for the girl’s murder.
The bodycam footage shows the father cooperating with the cops. He agreed to them searching his car when he was pulled over for allegedly speeding.
When asked by an officer: “You got anything in your car?” Barnes replied: “Not really… weed.”
“No problem if I search?” the cop asked. “Yeah, go ahead,” the father said.
He was placed in handcuffs as officers searched his car. During the search, they found around 80 grams of marijuana and an urn.
One of the cops said he has tested the contents for drugs. “At first I thought it was heroin, then I checked for cocaine, but it looks like it’s probably molly,” he said, using the slang word for ecstasy.
“X pills?” another cop asked.
Barnes asked to see what the officers had found. When they showed him the jar, he immediately became distressed as he told them it was his daughter.
“Give me that, bro. That’s my daughter. Please give me my daughter, bro. Put her in my hand, bro. Y’all are disrespectful, bro,” he begged.
Barnes’ father later arrived on the scene and officers returned the jar to him.
Barnes has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Springfield and the six cops claiming the officers ‘desecrated his daughter’s ashes.’
The lawsuit alleges his car was unlawfully searched and his daughter’s sealed urn was unlawfully taken and opened without the father’s consent, with some of the ashes spilled as they tested it for drugs.
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