Lewis James Little, a North Carolina Central University sophomore, called police after discovering a dead body in the middle of the road. Once officers arrived, Little was handcuffed and jailed under a $1.425 million bond on burglary and kidnapping among several other charges in connection with a break-in that occurred at a nearby home.
Little and his friends were leaving the home of a childhood friend in east Durham, NC when they discovered the body on June 21, 2013. A neighboring witness to the burglary identified Little as one of the three men who broke in, however, statements to police called that identification into question and Little was released on July 15.
“You can do good your whole life and like that, [you’re in jail under] a million-dollar bond,” Little said. “It was kind of like a dream. I kept waking up, like, ‘I can’t believe I’m in here.’ I kind of felt defeated.”
Though the case has since then been dismissed and charges dropped, Little still faces issues finding housing and employment due to the arrest. A law professor at NCCU, Irving Joyner, stated that Little’s experience bears similarity to encounters between other black people and the police. He believes that it’s situations like this that deter people from reporting crimes.
“They don’t want to run the risk that they’ll end up being the target of an investigation. It’s a valid fear that people have,” Joyner said. “People often have this notion that, if it is an African-American young person, it is highly likely that they participated in the crime, if they were anywhere physically close to it.”
While Little is faced with the responsibility of trying to get his record expunged, he’s angered and doesn’t feel it should be his burden to clear his name. Through it all, he’s determined to move on from it.
“Holding onto the anger every day doesn’t get you anywhere, so most definitely, I’m mad, but I still have other stuff going on,” he said. “So, I have to balance that, and keep moving forward.”
More details on WRAL.com
BMWK–Do you agree with Irving Joyner’s that situations like this deter people from reporting crimes? Little said that if he had to do it again, he would have ignored the body–would you?