NYC mom whose infant son was snatched from her during violent arrest awarded $625K

Jazmine Headley, who was arrested after she waited hours in a benefits office to no avail, settled with New York City as a result of her mistreatment

Blue Telusma

Dec 18, 2019

A New York mother whose infant son was brutally torn from her arms by police officers at a city facility has been awarded $625,000 to settle her lawsuit against the city.

Over the summer it was reported that Jazmine Headley, 24, filed an excessive-force complaint in Brooklyn federal court accusing the department of “torrent of violence and abuse” against her and her child.

In the suit Headley claimed her child “endured a formative incident of trauma” and “will forever confront increased long-term health and life consequences as a result.” She is also accusing New York city of not properly training city Human Resources Administration peace officers and police officers in “child-sensitive arrest policies,” according to the citation. The city’s Law Department said it is reviewing the complaint.

The December 2018 incident was captured on video camera and quickly went viral. Headley was visiting a benefits office with her son to inquire about why day care benefits had been cut off for him and sat three hours on its floor, waiting for a caseworker. Security officers ordered her to get up, but called the police when she did not move.

Officers attempted to pry the boy from her arms, with one bringing out a taser. Afterward, she spend three days in jail until a judge ordered her freed.

“Ms. Headley refused to be demeaned by HRA officers just because she needed help. What followed was a shameful display of violence and punishment,” said her attorney Katie Rosenfeld in August, according to Politico.

Now CBS news is confirming that Headley and her family will finally receive “a degree of closure.”

“Ms. Headley came to the city seeking help, and we failed to treat her with the dignity and respect she deserved,” the city said in a statement. “While this injustice should have never happened, it forced a reckoning with how we treat our most vulnerable and prompted us to make reforms at HRA [Human Resources Administration] Centers across the city.”

“I am very pleased that Ms. Headley will receive a settlement that reflects both the harm that came to her and her son and an acknowledgement from the City of New York of the extent of their wrongdoing in this matter,” said Lisa Schreibersdorf, executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services, which represented the mother. “I hope that this recognition also results in changes to the way the city treats people who are trying to access the help and services they need and deserve.”