A recently released body-cam video reveals a heart-wrenching encounter between a school resource officer and a six-year-old girl, who was seen sobbing as her hands were bound with zip ties. This incident took place in September 2019 at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, a charter school in Orlando, Florida, where Officer Martin Hayes was called to the scene after the child, named Lily Evans, reportedly had a meltdown and struck several school staff members.
In the shocking footage obtained by the Orlando Chronicle, Lily is shown sitting quietly in an office while an administrator reads to her. When Officer Hayes arrives, he proceeds to place zip ties on her wrists, explaining that handcuffs were not an option due to her small size. “What are those for?” Lily asks, visibly distressed. “They’re for you,” Hayes responds, as she pleads, “No, please don’t put those on! Help me, help me, please!”
With her hands restrained, Officer Hayes and another officer escorted Lily to the police vehicle that would transport her to a local Juvenile Assessment Center. “Please, give me a second chance,” she cried through her tears.
Upon returning to the school to complete his report, another staff member questioned the necessity of using restraints, to which Hayes insisted they were warranted. He even boasted about having arrested over 6,000 individuals throughout his career, noting that Lily had set a record as the youngest person he’d ever apprehended.
Consequently, Officer Hayes was terminated after the department determined he had breached arrest protocols, and charges against Lily were promptly dismissed the following day. State attorney Benji Martinez expressed his commitment to preventing involvement in what is termed the school-to-prison pipeline at any age.
This incident raised serious concerns about Officer Hayes’s history, which included multiple violations ranging from unsafe driving to allegations of injuring his young son. Records also indicated previous accusations of sending threatening messages to an ex-spouse and instances of racial profiling. Alarmingly, it was revealed that he had arrested a six-year-old boy at the same school earlier that day.
As for Lily, the long-term effects of this traumatic experience remain uncertain. Her grandmother, Sarah Thompson, remarked after watching the footage, “I always knew that they were wrong, but seeing her plead for help broke my heart.” Lily now attends a private school that does not have police officers on the premises.
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Summary
The disturbing body-cam footage of a school resource officer restraining a six-year-old girl has sparked outrage and calls for accountability, revealing the troubling implications of such actions on young children. With the officer’s firing and charges against the girl dropped, the case has raised essential questions about the role of law enforcement in schools and the potential long-term effects on children involved in similar incidents.