Failed negotiations with the city of Waukegan, and alleged provocative action by a Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education member, prompted the family of a Waukegan teen falsely arrested a year ago to take legal action.
The attorney for Shanika Williams, the mother of the Waukegan teen, filed a 33-count, 78-page civil rights lawsuit on the youngster’s behalf Feb. 15 in federal court in Chicago seeking an unspecified amount of money arising from the teen’s false arrest and two days of incarceration.
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Along with the city and school district, three police officers involved with the arrest and subsequent incarceration, a school official and an individual school board member are listed as defendants, according to the complaint.
Filed approximately a year after the arrest, the complaint claims the teen’s 4th, 5th and 14th Amendment rights under the Constitution were violated after an employee at a retail business in Waukegan was shot and wounded Feb. 4, 2022, according to the complaint.
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In the course of a police investigation, officers took the teen into custody on Feb. 16, 2022 at the Waukegan High School’s Brookside campus, according to reports at the time. School officials did not contact Williams, according to the complaint.
Police induced a confession from the teen and he was held for two days at Lake County’s juvenile detention center before proof of the false arrest was provided to authorities and he was released, according to the complaint.
Shortly after the arrest and release, then Waukegan interim Police Chief Keith Zupec made policy changes to prevent a similar incident from happening again. For example, arrests would no longer be made at a school unless the offense occurred on school grounds.
“Waukegan police officers and detectives will not interrogate a juvenile suspect unless they have a parent, guardian or attorney present for questioning,” Zupec also said at the time.
Around the same time, District 60 Superintendent Theresa Plascencia said in a communication to the school community the district was reviewing its policies to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Kevin O’Connor, the attorney for Williams, said in an interview Tuesday he was negotiating with both the city for a scholarship for the teen to further the teen’s education, and with the school district to assure the teen was getting the necessary tutoring support needed to succeed.
“The negotiations broke down with the city near the end of the year,” O’Connor said. “The school district fanned the flames of the fire when they allowed a person to approach (the teen), knowing he was represented by counsel.”
School Board member Anita Hanna, “facilitated an unsupervised meeting on school grounds between (the teen) and Rayon Edwards, who she should have known had a ‘violent criminal history,’” according to the complaint. Edwards gave the teen an “unsolicited offer of protection” at the meeting, it said.
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“That showed they didn’t want to help him,” O’Connor said. “They showed they were not focused helping him have a peaceful life. They were back at the same old attitude.”
Hanna said in an interview Tuesday she came to the high school March 18 to wish students a good and safe spring break. She was with Edwards and another person. They entered the cafeteria where the teen was sitting with several other people.
“This is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable,” Hanna said. “He stood up and said, ‘Hey Ray Ray,’” she added, referring to Edwards. “He walked over to them, and talked to a different boy.”
Nick Alatzakis, the District 60 director of communications and chief of staff, said in an email the district is reviewing the complaint and has no comment at this time.
While the city said in a statement it understands community members are concerned and have questions about the allegations in the complaint, the “city cannot comment on the specific facts and allegations in the lawsuit.”
“The City of Waukegan Police Department continues to implement training of its officers in best practices and standards concerning juvenile suspects and offenders,” the city said in the statement.
