Three arrested after social media video appeared to show boy being abused
By Rebekah Riess, CNN
Three people in Fulton County, Georgia, have been arrested and charged after the Atlanta Police Department’s Special Victims Unit became aware of a social media video that appeared to show a young male being abused, possibly because of his sexual orientation, according to Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee.
According to an incident report released by Atlanta Police, the video appeared to show the boy with his hair shaved past his hairline and the letters “GA” cut into his hair.
The reports said a male can be seen in the video yelling at the child and hitting him in the head, saying, “You still doing gay sh*t. You think I cut this in your head for no reason?” The report said the man then slapped the child on the side of his head while holding the top of the child’s head with his other hand.
There were two additional videos, the incident report said. including one with the child stating he was not abused and another that showed the child — with an altered hairline and “Gay” written on the side — being teased.
On June 17, SVU investigators started working to identify the location where the incident took place and to identify all parties involved, according to a release from Atlanta Police. “We actually got a lot of feedback from members of the community who were able to help us identify the location and some of the people involved,” Chafee said. “We’re very appreciative of the feedback that we got in this case.”
The child was identified and placed into Georgia Division of Family & Children Services custody the next night, the release said. His age was not released.
Police identified the suspects as Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19; Brittney Monique Mills, 35; and Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18. All three were arrested Friday and placed into custody at the Fulton County Jail, according to court documents and the release.
According to Chafee, all three were charged with cruelty to children, while Richards-Nwankwo was also charged with battery. Chafee said the relationship between the suspects and victim is being withheld for privacy reasons.
According to Tracy Flanagan with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, both Spencer and Mills remain in jail as of Monday evening with their bond set at $40,000 each. Richards-Nwankwo posted a $50,000 bond and was released from jail Sunday.
As of Monday evening, Spencer did not have attorneys listed in her court and jail records. CNN reached out to Mills’ public defender, Eric Cho, for comment. CNN also reached out to Richards-Nwankwo’s attorney, Gift Nwankwo, for comment.
“The behavior in this social media post was difficult to watch and is absolutely unacceptable,” the release from Atlanta Police said. “We are appreciative of the number of people who flagged this case with us and for those who provided information on the location where it took place. Our investigators worked hard to identify those involved and to gather the evidence needed to place each behind bars and we are thankful for their work.”
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