The New Jersey couple whose baby was taken by social services in North Carolina after sheriff’s officers there pulled them over plans to head back home with their son.
But the husband and wife say they haven’t gotten custody yet.
Raymond Cheley Sykes and Kaila Boulware, of Manchester, said Montgomery County, North Carolina sheriff’s officers drew their guns and beat Sykes during a traffic stop on Dec. 3 while their 9-month-old was in the car.
The sheriff’s department, however, said Sykes struck an officer and the two were arrested on misdemeanor marijuana charges, although the couple’s attorney says they were only in possession of CBD tea.
Boulware, 27, and Sykes, 34, hugged and kissed their 9-month-old son, Truth, on Monday after a court hearing in North Carolina, where a judge ordered Truth to be released to Sykes’s mom, and their custody case transferred to New Jersey, the couple said.
“It’s not over,” Boulware said in a video that was posted by the mayor of Troy, North Carolina, where the couple was arrested. “We’re going back to New Jersey and they’re saying that New Jersey needs to investigate. They need to look further into this. And we just know that not to be true. So everybody please continue to pray for us.”
The couple said they were driving through North Carolina earlier this month to visit a relative in Florida when Montgomery County sheriff’s officers pulled them over for having a white tail light. The baby was handed over to county social services on the same night, when the couple said the traffic stop escalated.
Montgomery County Sheriff Christopher Watkins said officers are not equipped with body or dashboard cameras. That leaves law enforcement’s account, which is commonly held to a higher standard in courts, against the couple’s word.
“Neither Sykes nor Boulware were injured during their arrest and they did not request medical attention,” Watkins said in a statement, which made no mention of guns being drawn.
Raymond Cheley Sykes said a Montgomery sheriff's officer swung a baton at his face, but he blocked it with his arm. Pictured are the bruises Sykes says he says he suffered in the incident.courtesy of Kaila Boulware
The couple’s van was pulled over on Wright Way in Troy, N.C. around 3 a.m., Watkins said. A deputy allegedly saw the car “being driven in a manner, place and time that was suspicious” and the vehicle’s registration plate was not registered, the sheriff’s department said.
“An odor of marijuana was detected coming from the vehicle and the occupants were asked to exit the van so a search could be performed, which they refused,” the sheriff’s department statement read. “When deputies were attempting to remove Sykes from the vehicle, he assaulted a deputy by hitting him with his fist, which caused his arrest. A search of the vehicle was conducted, which revealed marijuana and drug paraphernalia.”
The two now face misdemeanor possession of marijuana and paraphernalia charges. Boulware also faces minor traffic violations stemming from the stop, and Sykes faces charges of resisting a public officer and assault of a government official, both misdemeanors in North Carolina.
Court documents in Montgomery County obtained by NJ Advance Media Court allege the arresting officers found smoking pipes and a grinder in the vehicle. The couple said they are practicing Yehudiths, a form of Judaism that goes against being under the influence of drugs, and were not using marijuana while driving with their child in the car.
New Jersey just voted to legalize marijuana, but it is still outlawed in North Carolina. CBD tea - which the couple’s attorney, Jason Keith, says the couple had in the van - is generally legal in North Carolina, depending on how it is produced.
Boulware and Sykes said they complied with the officers’ requests and don’t understand why guns were drawn on Sykes. Boulware said she saw the two officers on scene draw their guns on her husband as his back was turned away from them.
Sykes said the stop took a turn when he asked if it was unlawful to search the van. He also denies that he struck an officer as one reached into the car to pull him out.
“Yahweh, please protect me,” Sykes said he shouted, hands in a prayer formation in the air as he walked toward the hood of the deputy’s car. “Don’t let these people hurt me.”
Montgomery County Department of Social Services (DSS) came while officers searched the couple’s van and took Truth, both law enforcement and Boulware said. They were both released from jail the same day of their arrest.
Boulware said she was released earlier in the morning than her husband. She said she was driving barefoot at the time of her arrest and was released without any shoes. She walked two miles to DSS to get her son back.
The couple said they do not have a birth certificate for Truth since Boulware gave birth at home. The two had to pay $750 for an overnight DNA test to prove they were Truth’s parents, but they still were denied custody.
The husband and wife said they also underwent — and passed — mental health and drug screenings since DSS accused them of being homeless, which the couple denies. The two said they work as photographers and are community organizers in New Jersey, but had to stay in a hotel for weeks in North Carolina since Dec. 3 as they fought to get their son back.
A friend of Boulware’s started a GoFundMe to raise money for the couple to help pay for their hotel, meals and attorneys fees. The couple will still have to defend the charges against them in North Carolina.
Boulware previously told NJ Advance Media that she believed the institution of policing was to blame for her family’s treatment more than race. One of the arresting officers — who were only identified by their last names in court documents — had the same skin color as her husband, she said.
“We have nothing to hide and that’s why we decided to speak up against this,” Boulware told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “We also know that authorities and institutions — when they know they’ve done something wrong — the first thing they do is discredit or slander the opposition.”
DSS did not respond to a request about the couple’s situation or general policies when NJ Advance Media reached out on Friday.
Boulware and Sykes said Tuesday they were packing to leave Montgomery County and head back to New Jersey.
Truth’s grandmother, who will have custody while the couple fights to have their son returned to them, was with the couple on Monday in North Carolina and looked on as they hugged their son.
They said they’ve lived with Sykes’s mother and she loves their son. But they are still uneasy about having to disprove the allegations DSS made against them as their custody battle now plays out in New Jersey.
”At this point, we feel very confused,” Boulware said. “We feel very disheartened about this.”
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Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
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