ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The mother of an 8th grade student whose hair was pulled by an Orange County school resource officer filed suit against Sheriff John Mina last week for damages.
The Nov. 7, 2019 incident was captured on video and led to the firing of the deputy involved.
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Wilmica Edmond, an 8th grader at Westridge Middle School, was involved in an incident outside the school when Harry Reid, the school resource officer, approached her.
Video showed him yanking 13-year-old Wilmica by her hair and yelling at other students. In the video, Reid is seen pulling the girl’s head back by her hair and then saying, “This is because you’re silly. You’re all stupid little children, stupid little children."
Attorneys Gregorio Francis and Ryan Fletcher filed a lawsuit on May 27 in Orange County on behalf of Myrkerlange Joseph, the girl’s mother.
According to the complaint, the sheriff should not have selected Reid to be a school resource officer as he was not trained or properly supervised.
The complaint questions the Orange County Sheriff’s Office process to select deputies to work at schools, saying the office should have known Reid was “unfit" to serve in that role around students.
The lawsuit alleged Mina is responsible for the actions of his deputies.
The victim continued to suffer physically, mentally and emotionally due to the incident, according to the complaint.
The family is asking for damages exceeding $30,000.