TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Dec 4, 2023

The mother of a 17-year-old girl says her daughter was "body slammed" by two male counselors from Youth Villages after she refused to strip in front of them during an appointment at the Shelby County Health Department and later was beaten by at least 12 counselors at the facility. Youth Villages strongly denies the accusations, and in the case of the first incident, says Alegend Jones was accompanied by two women to the department. According to the Commercial Appeal, Jones went to the facility after her mother asked the Department of Children's Services (DCS) to take over as guardian to help with mental health struggles. Her death was described by the center as an "incident" and "medical emergency." The mother has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump. DCS says it also is investigating the death.