It was like a scene taken out of a Hollywood film, armed officers busting into a harmless-looking house in an attempt to apprehend a narcotics kingpin. And just like in the movies, they don’t find what they’re looking for.
What they found instead was an innocent family. At that point it had been too late: finding the front door blocked, the officers had thrown a flash grenade through the window.
It had landed on a toddler’s playpen and exploded. The explosion hit Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh straight on the face, injuring him with severe burns and lacerations on his face and chest.
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Baby Bou Bou spent weeks in the burn unit in a medically induced coma because the pain was simply too much for him to bear.
The raid began when Nikki Autry, former Habersham County Deputy Sheriff, lead a team of special agents in “an attempt to make undercover narcotic buys.”
Her misinformation claimed that a “reliable informant” had bought methamphetamine at a house, and that there was “heavy traffic in and out of the residence.” This prompted the judge to issue a “no knock” search warrant.
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The suspect in the raid was not in the Phonesavanh family’s house, and was later arrested at a nearby residence and charged with distribution of methamphetamine.
Habersham County Sherriff Joey Terrell said that if they were aware children were inside the residence, the operation would have been handled differently.
Meanwhile Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said, “Without Autry’s false statements, there was no probable cause to search the premises for drugs or to make arrests. The consequences of the unlawful search were tragic.”
“We have worked diligently with our counsel to obtain the best possible result for Baby Bou Bou and his family,” said Mawuli Mel Davis, the Phonesavanhs lawyer.
“What we have achieved will not fix what has happened or take away the nightmares, but we hope it helps them move forward as a family.”
A federal judge has approved settlements of $3.6 million to the parents of Baby Bou Bou.
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