Family of 'heartbroken' teen sues Instagram, Florida school after wrongful arrest over fake threats
The mother of a 13-year-old girl who was arrested after being falsely accused of making threats on social media filed a lawsuit this week against a Florida school and Instagram for malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violating her civil rights
Nia Whims, an eighth grader at Renaissance Charter School at Pines, was arrested Nov. 19 after an unnamed classmate created an Instagram account using her name and sent messages to herself threatening to blow up the school and kill multiple people, according to the lawsuit.
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.
"She wasn't there for Thanksgiving," her mother, Lezlie-Ann Davis, said at a press conference Wednesday. "She was heartbroken. She came home and she threw away her school uniform."
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.
Meta, which owns Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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A 12-year-old student was later arrested and charged with making the threats after investigators obtained new evidence about the I.P. addresses associated with the messages in January, according to the Pembroke Police Department.
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Family attorney Marwan Porter told USA TODAY the family also intends to include the department in the lawsuit.
"The charter school and the police department failed to do a proper investigation, failed to do their homework – no pun intended – before putting our children in handcuffs and locking them behind bars," Porter said. "It's been very, very difficult on them as a family."
Police said the delay in arresting Nia's classmate was because her family did not cooperate with investigators. But Davis said she allowed police to take the iPad her daughter had been using when police came to her home to question Nia.
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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.
"As they say in the criminal justice system, the cover-up is worse than the crime," he said. "It's nonsense, it's foolishness and I'm going to expose them."
Nia's wrongful arrest came after months of bullying that the school failed to address, according to the complaint. Davis asked the school to intervene, but the harassment became so severe she pulled her daughter out of the school days before the arrest.
"Had they listened to her, this would have never happened to Nia," Porter said.
Colleen Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Renaissance Charter School at Pines, said the school does not comment on pending litigation.
"Our highest priority remains the safety and security of our students," Reynolds said. "We always have and always will take all appropriate actions to ensure our students and staff are safe."
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.
"This is just a little girl who's been hauled away in handcuffs," Porter said. "It's been very, very, very, very traumatic."
Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida teen's family sues Instagram, school over wrongful 2021 arrest
