International- A woman in California is suing sheriff's deputies for punching her while she was holding her baby.
- Attorneys for Yeayo Russell say police forced her to throw away some of her breast milk after arresting her.
A Black woman in California alleged sheriff's deputies punched her in the face while the was holding her baby and kept her in jail for days before prosecutors decided not to charge her with a crime, according to a new lawsuit.
Yeayo Russell sued Los Angeles County and 10 unnamed Palmdale Sheriff's Station deputies on Monday in Central California District Court on behalf of herself and her minor child.
According to the lawsuit, sheriff's deputies pulled over a car that Russell was a passenger in on July 14, 2022 for a traffic violation. Russell was breastfeeding her baby at the time of the traffic stop, her attorney told The Los Angeles Times.
After pulling the car over, the deputies "harassed" and "threatened," the vehicle members and made them get out of the car, the lawsuit says. Deputies then threatened to take Russell's child from her and began to pull on the baby's legs, causing them to scream, court documents say.
Body camera footage obtained by The Los Angeles Times shows Russell screaming that she does not currently have custody of her child and that "you will have to shoot me to take my baby."
"While Ms. Russell continued to hold and protect her newborn child, defendant deputy 1 punched her in the face two times causing her great pain," the lawsuit says.
According to the document, Russell's baby started "hanging upside down" after the punches and the deputy grabbed her child's leg, causing Russell to fear the deputy would break their leg.
"Ya'll punched me bro," Russell can be heard saying the body camera footage before saying she thinks her chin is broken.
Jamon Hicks, an attorney representing Russell, told The Los Angeles Times that the case is about "more than just punches."
"It is about the way the deputies treated this mother," Hicks said.
Sheriff's deputies booked Russell for felony child endangerment but prosecutors decided not to charge her, according to The Los Angeles Times. According to the lawsuit, Russell spent more than four days in jail.
Hicks told the outlet deputies also forced Russell to throw away some of her breast milk.
The lawsuit says sheriff's deputies would not tell Russell — who was hysterical — where her child was and denied her medical treatment on the way to the jail.
Russell alleges in the lawsuit that the deputies subjected her to unreasonable search, excessive force, and wrongful arrest. The lawsuit also says that the Sheriff's Department did not adequately train its deputies on when to use physical force.
"As a result, county sheriff's deputies, including DOES 1-10, are not able to handle the usual and recurring situations with which they must deal, including contacting unarmed individuals," the document says.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages and punitive damages to be determined during a jury trial as well as attorneys fees and cost of suit, according to court documents.
The Palmdale Sheriff's Station and Jamon Hicks did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Wednesday.