Teen’s Family Sues Instagram For Negligence Related to Wrongful Arrest
Instagram is accused of failing to promptly provide information that is "literally available at the press of a button" to investigators. The suit was filed by Lezlie-Ann Davis, the mother of Nia Whims, a 13-year-old girl who was arrested after being falsely accused of making threats on social media.
Landwebs
Lezlie-Ann Davis, the mother of Nia Whims, a 13-year-old girl who was arrested after being falsely accused of making threats on social media, has filed a lawsuit against a Florida school, Renaissance Charter School at Pines, and Instagram for malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violating her civil rights, reports USA Today. The lawsuit claims police arrested Nia without sufficient evidence while also citing “a failure to promptly investigate easily discoverable information” that forced her to remain in a juvenile detention center for 11 days. The suit also accuses Instagram of negligence for failing to promptly provide information that is “literally available at the press of a button” to investigators causing the delay in determining whether Nia was innocent and unjustly in custody.
Whims was arrested after an unidentified classmate, who was eventually arrested and charged, created an Instagram account using her name and sent messages to herself threatening to blow up the school and kill multiple people. Family attorney Marwan Porter said the allegation that Davis didn’t cooperate “adds insult to injury,” adding he also believes race “absolutely” played a role in the arrest of the Black teenager. The family is seeking $30,000 in damages, in part to get Nia treatment and counseling for the emotional and psychological effects of her arrest and detention.
