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| Most of the scarring around his face has healed but the emotional trauma remains with Baby Bou Bou, who is shown with his parents, Bounkham and Alecia Phonesavanh. |
Habersham County deputies threw a flash grenade during a drug raid at a home his family was visiting.
Family supporters met last week with Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Horn to seek criminal charges against the officers involved.
"You have the baby who has gone for his 11th surgery, so far and there is no one to be held accountable," said Marcus Coleman, a spokesman for the family. "This is the reason that the family is still in pursuit of justice."
A settlement of $1 million dollar had been reached between the family and the county in April of this year. One of the terms of the settlement is that the family may not sue individuals involved in maiming their son. Instead of coming from the wallets of the negligent officers, it will come strictly from the taxpayers.
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| Baby Bou Bou immediately after the botched raid had to be placed under an induced coma. |
On May 28, 2014, at 18 months old, the child was seriously injured when Habersham County deputies executed a no-knock warrant and threw a flash-grenade into the house.The deputies were searching for the boy's uncle in a drug case. As it turned out, the uncle was staying at another house and Baby Bou Bou and his family were visiting from Wisconsin.
Beyond the disfiguring wounds on the toddler’s face, the grenade also left a gash in his chest. As a result, Bou lost the ability to breathe on his own and was left in a medically induced coma for days after the incident. Bou was not able to go home to Wisconsin until July.
The settlement does not mean that there can be no further litigation, but that all litigation must be directed at the county insurance policies, not individuals or the county’s general fund.
A grand jury ruled not to indict the officers involved in the botched police operation. The grand jury said that while the drug investigation for a suspected $50 drug deal was "hurried, sloppy, and unfortunately not in accordance with the best practices and policies", they found "no evidence of criminal intent or criminal negligence on the part of any law enforcement officer involved."
Since then, the county has disbanded the sheriff's SWAT team, the drug officer in charge of the raid resigned and the judge who issued the "no-Knock" warrant has retired. The Phonesavanh family has returned to Wisconsin. The story continues, see below after the video.
Beyond the disfiguring wounds on the toddler’s face, the grenade also left a gash in his chest. As a result, Bou lost the ability to breathe on his own and was left in a medically induced coma for days after the incident. Bou was not able to go home to Wisconsin until July.
RELATED: Family struggles after flash grenade lands in baby's cribNo officers were charged for their near-deadly negligence, and the department claimed that they did not know that there were children in the home. They defended their reckless actions by saying that they couldn’t have done a thorough investigation prior to the raid because it “would have risked revealing that the officers were watching the house.”
The settlement does not mean that there can be no further litigation, but that all litigation must be directed at the county insurance policies, not individuals or the county’s general fund.
A grand jury ruled not to indict the officers involved in the botched police operation. The grand jury said that while the drug investigation for a suspected $50 drug deal was "hurried, sloppy, and unfortunately not in accordance with the best practices and policies", they found "no evidence of criminal intent or criminal negligence on the part of any law enforcement officer involved."
Since then, the county has disbanded the sheriff's SWAT team, the drug officer in charge of the raid resigned and the judge who issued the "no-Knock" warrant has retired. The Phonesavanh family has returned to Wisconsin. The story continues, see below after the video.
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