Trigger Warning: This story will discuss violence against children and may contain graphic content that may upset some readers.
A 62-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina, apartment manager has been arrested after police confirmed an assault occurred on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Sedgefield Gardens Apartment complex. Kimberly Jennings has been charged with two counts of assault on a child under 12. A viral video shows a woman who looks like Jennings pouring soda on a young child and hitting him with the bottle while two other adults watch. Jace Eury, the 11-year-old boy in the video, stood up for his sister when Jennings apparently turned her wrath on him. Eury’s mother, Jae Eury, told
Yes Weekly she would like Jennings fired. “I’m pissed off. The kids were angry, especially my son. It started because she hit my daughter, and her brother stood up for her. I want her fired. I want her life destroyed. I want her to have nothing and be nothing like she made my kids feel.”The Gate City Coalition supports Eury in her fight against Jennings. John Awolowo, the supervisor for the west side corridor area, is lending Eury support in calling for Jennings to be fired. Awolowo told Yes Weekly, “We try to keep the violence down in the area and mentor the kids, so this goes hand in hand. The children are the future, and we are not standing for that. You don’t harm a child. You don’t assault a child.” Awolowo is also concerned about how this will potentially impact Jace down the road and wants to support the young boy if he needs therapy for the trauma he may have incurred as a result of this attack. Awolowo also wonders how many other children have dealt with these kinds of incidents.
The Greensboro chapter of the NAACP says the family has its full support. NAACP Greensboro Chapter President Kay Brown told Yes Weekly, “Racism will not be tolerated. Housing discrimination will not be tolerated, and we stand behind the family. I have two young sons myself, and I know that I would be very upset if somebody laid hands on my child.” Though Jennings was arrested, she was released from custody after giving a promise to appear, according to a spokesperson from the Guilford County Sherriff’s office. The community gathered for an impromptu protest outside the apartment complex on Friday, Aug. 4. The Greensboro community appears united behind the children and their mother, who is determined that her kids receive the justice they so richly deserve.