After Djovani Jean-Pierre, an Alabama teenager, was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, and two misdemeanors for allegedly using a gun to steal another loaded gun at a party, his lawyer argues that the charges were racially motivated amid tensions in Albertville surrounding the growing Haitian population. Activists are now condemning the decision to house the 17-year-old with adults in jail.
According to The Associated Press, although an Alabama law gives judges more discretion about whether or not to deny bail for those accused of violent crimes, juvenile justice advocates and other activists have made the case that housing Jean-Pierre with adults puts him in a dangerous situation.
However, Phil Sims, the Marshall County Sheriff, told the AP that removing him from the general population in jail would mean solitary confinement, which is also detrimental to his mental health.
As a result, Jean-Pierre has been stuck in jail awaiting trial, with his attorney, Richard Rice, telling the AP that his client, a strong student, has been denied access to his school materials while incarcerated.
“Djovani deserves compassion and a second chance to learn from this experience rather than subjecting him to unnecessary detainment that fails to serve his best interests or those of the community,” Rice said.
According to former Tennessee assistant attorney general and the current policy director for the Campaign for Fair Sentencing, Preston Shipp, Jean-Pierre absolutely should not be housed with adults due to the danger it poses to his health and well-being.
“We know it is such well-settled law now that you cannot house children with adults. This is not a gray area anymore,” Shipp told the AP.
According to WAAY 31, Jean-Pierre’s mother, Francia Apollon, told the outlet in October 2024 that her son is afraid, and hinted that his incarceration with adults is due in part to his race, an allegation that Marshall County District Attorney Jennifer Bray refuted, citing Alabama state law which indicates that Jean-Pierre’s charges mean he is to be tried as an adult.
“Every time my son calls me, he will cry. He says, Mommy, I’m scared. As a mom, for your son to tell you he’s worried, someone might touch your son, it’s hard. And no kid deserves that treatment. It doesn’t matter the color or the race. No one deserves to be treated like that. I think the system needs to do better with kids,” Apollon told the outlet.
In an email to the AP, Bray said that she hopes that she and Rice, Jean-Pierre’s attorney, can find a solution that allows for accountability from the teenager as well as compassion, which would allow Jean-Pierre to make positive changes in his life.
For the time being, Jean-Pierre wants to remind people of the words of Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, that he is more than the worst thing he has been accused of doing.
“It’s been hard. I just stay in my cell. If it wasn’t for my cellmate, Marcus, I don’t know. He just kept being positive, saying ‘the trouble will pass, take this as a lesson.’” According to the AP’s reporting, Marcus has been transferred to another facility. “I want everyone to know I’m not a bad person. I just made a mistake,” Jean-Pierre told the AP. “I hope that whenever I can get out, I can change everybody’s mind, do right.”
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