Cops Mistook Toddler's Ashes For Drugs: Illinois Lawsuit

SPRINGFIELD, IL — An Illinois man has filed a lawsuit against the City of Springfield and six individual Springfield police officers, alleging that they mistook his late daughter's ashes for drugs during a traffic stop on April 6, 2020. In the video, Dartavius Barnes can be heard pleading for officers to return his child's ashes to him, saying, "Please give me my daughter, put her in my hand."

Police body camera video shows what happened after police discovered the bullet-shaped urn in Barnes' car. Police said Barnes was pulled over for speeding shortly after gunshots were reported in the same area, KUTV reported.

Barnes, seen sitting handcuffed in the backseat of a police car, tells the officers the urn contained the remains of his daughter, 2-year-old Ta'Naja Barnes.

The little girl was found unresponsive in her Decatur home in 2019. Ta'Naja's mother and her mother's boyfriend were charged with murder in connection to her death. Both were sentenced to prison in Ta'Naja's death by neglect and starvation.

After he was pulled over, Barnes' lawsuit says police opened the urn without his consent, unsealed it and spilled the ashes out, according to KUTV.

In the body camera video, an officer asks Barnes if he has anything in the car before Barnes, who initially says no, admits to having marijuana. The officer asks if he can search the vehicle and Barnes is heard saying, "Yeah, go ahead."

In the video, officers find marijuana as well as the urn before wrapping the urn in a plastic glove. An officer tells Barnes the container tested positive for ecstasy or meth.

Barnes appears confused, and an officer unwraps the glove and shows him the urn. Barnes immediately becomes upset, yelling "No, that's my daughter," "You're being disrespectful, bro" and begging, "Can I please have my daughter?" Ashes can be seen flowing from the urn in the beam of the flashlight the officer is holding.

In the footage, as Barnes can be heard continually begging for his daughter, officers discuss Barnes' claim and ultimately come to the conclusion that he's telling the truth. An officer eventually hands the urn over to another man, who questions why they took it. The officer tells the man, "It looked similar to molly, OK?"

Later, in a police car, one officer discusses giving Barnes a notice to appear in court on a marijuana charge.

"OK, aside from pissing off dad and testing the dead baby ashes," another officer replies.

Barnes' lawsuit accuses police of the "desecration" of his daughter's ashes.

In a court filing, the officers named in the suit deny they unlawfully obtained the urn, saying they are "entitled to qualified immunity as their conduct was justified by an objectively reasonable belief that it was lawful."