Bodycam footage has surfaced showing Illinois cops searching an urn during a traffic stop and insisting it was full of drugs when it actually contained the remains of a man’s two-year-old daughter.
The incident, which unfolded last April, is getting new attention after the man is now suing the City of Springfield, claiming officers ‘desecrated his daughter’s ashes.’
On April 6, 2020, Dartavius Barnes was pulled over by police in Springfield, Illinois, for allegedly speeding through an area where there had been gunfire reported. There’s no indication he was involved in any gunfire, according to police reports.
Officers searched his car and Barnes, 25, has claimed Springfield Police officers unsealed the urn containing the ashes of his daughter Ta’Naja Barnes without his consent and spilled some of them out during the search.
The footage captured the moment the grieving father realized the officers had taken the urn and tested his daughter’s remains for drugs.
‘No, no, no, bro, that’s my daughter,’ he cries. ‘What ya’ll doing bro? That’s my daughter!’
The officers are later heard joking about the incident saying they had ‘p***** off’ Barnes by ‘testing the dead baby ashes.’
Ta’Naja died of neglect and starvation in February 2019, with the toddler’s mom and stepfather now behind bars for her murder.
Bodycam footage shows Illinois cops searching an urn during a traffic stop and insisting it’s full of drugs when it actually contains the remains of a man’s two-year-old daughter
Dartavius Barnes has claimed Springfield Police officers unsealed the urn containing the ashes of his daughter Ta’Naja Barnes (pictured) without his consent and spilled some of them out
The 47-minute bodycam footage shows Barnes cooperating with the officers and agreeing to them searching his vehicle after he is pulled over.
He tells the cops he has some marijuana in his car.
‘You got anything in your car?’ one officer asks.
‘Not really… weed,’ Barnes replies.
‘No problem if I search?’ the cop asks.
‘Yeah, go ahead,’ Barnes replies.
Barnes was placed in handcuffs and sat in the back of a police cruiser while they carried out the search.
During the search, the officers said they found around 80 grams of marijuana in plastic bags and a Mason jar.
One of the officers is then seen in the footage holding the urn and telling one of his colleagues he has tested it for drugs.
‘At first I thought it was heroin, then I checked for cocaine, but it looks like it’s probably molly,’ one officer said, using the slang term for ecstasy.
The incident unfolded on April 6 2020 when Barnes was pulled over by police in Springfield, Illinois, for allegedly speeding. Barnes is seen cooperating with the officers and agreeing to them searching his vehicle
During the search, one of the officers is seen holding the urn and telling one of his colleagues he has tested it for drugs
‘X pills?’ another officer said.
The cop then wraps the container in his glove and puts it with other evidence.
After around 21 minutes in the back of the cop car, the officers told Barnes they had found a substance that had tested positive for meth or ecstasy.
Barnes appeared to be baffled by the claims and asked to see what they had found.
When the officer showed him the container, Barnes became distressed telling the officers that it was his daughter.
‘No, no, no, bro, that’s my daughter. What ya’ll doing bro? That’s my daughter!’ he said.
After around 21 minutes in the back of the cop car, the officers told Barnes they had found a substance that had tested positive for meth or ecstasy
Barnes appeared to be baffled by the claims and asked to see what they had found. When the officer showed him the container, Barnes became distressed telling the cops it’s his daughter
‘Give me that, bro. That’s my daughter. Please give me my daughter, bro. Put her in my hand, bro. Y’all are disrespectful, bro.’
Barnes tried to reach for his daughter’s remains but the officer shut the door of the cruiser closing him inside.
The cop is then seen telling his colleagues what Barnes just told him.
‘This is his daughter’s ashes… that Riebling thought tested positive for meth,’ the cop said.
The cops then went to test the urn’s contents again before they decided against it.
By this point, Barnes’ father had arrived on the scene. The officers return the urn containing his granddaughter’s ashes to him.
Ta’Naja (pictured with Barnes) was found unresponsive and wrapped in a urine-soaked blanket in her home in Decatur in February 2019. She was pronounced dead at a hospital
She had long suffered abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother T’wanka Davis and mother’s boyfriend Anthony Myers. The infant’s autopsy revealed she died from dehydration, malnourishment, neglect, and the cold
Some of the officers are then seen making light of the incident while filling in a police report inside their vehicle.
‘I’m just going to give him a notice to appear on the weed,’ one cop said.
Another cop is heard replying: ‘Aside from p***** off dad and testing the dead baby ashes.’
Barnes was released without arrest and given a notice to appear in court for illegal possession of cannabis.
He filed a federal lawsuit in October against the city of Springfield and six Springfield police officers claiming the officers ‘desecrated’ his daughter’s ashes.
The suit alleges his vehicle was unlawfully searched and the sealed urn unlawfully taken and opened without his consent, with some of his two-year-old’s remains spilled as they tested it for drugs.
Ta’Naja’s mother T’wanka Davis (left) and mother’s boyfriend Anthony Myers (right) were sent to prison for her murder
Barnes is seeking compensatory damages and a trial by jury. A jury trial has been set for August 2022.
Ta’Naja was found unresponsive and wrapped in a urine-soaked blanket in her home in Decatur in February 2019. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
She had long suffered abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother T’wanka Davis and mother’s boyfriend Anthony Myers and had been left cold, hungry and dehydrated for several days.
The infant’s autopsy revealed she died from dehydration, malnourishment, neglect, and the cold.
Davis pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her murder. She was pregnant with another child as she appeared in court.
Myers was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.