By Heart of Illinois ABC
NORMAL – After more than two years, several hospital visits, countless documents and paperwork, Lavonte Rayford is free of five felony charges. His mother calls what happened involuntary intoxication. The prosecutor said it was a mental health issue.
“My son is not a convict and he’s not a criminal. He was given a medication that caused side effects. And that’s it,” explained Latasha Rayford.
Lavonte has epilepsy. He suffered a brain injury and burns to 65 percent of his body in a car accident at six years old that killed his older brother. In Spring of 2019 he was taking the medication Keppra. He was having hallucinations, and was arrested for aggravated battery at Bromenn Medical Center after throwing liquid at nursing staff.
“There’s so many Lavontes in this world. There’s so many Lavonte’s that go through this. That’s given the wrong medication. And that’s not being considered in the court of law,” said Latasha Rayford.
After another incident that summer throwing food and liquid at a corrections officer, and a courtroom scuffle that ended with Lavonte being tased, he faced five felony charges.
“They’re being criminalized because of their medical condition. And it’s not fair,” said the mother fighting for her son.
A March report from a doctor determined Lavonte was unfit to stand trial.
Another report in July, from Peoria based Doctor Jane Velez said Lavonte was fit to stand trial and should have been released from custody. But the courts wouldn’t allow it.
So Lavonte was taken into custody. That’s when he suffered seizures for 3 hours at the McLean County jail.
“His eye was really messed up and it was closed shut. He had a hematoma,” explained Latasha Rayford. She said the jail wouldn’t allow her to give her son his medication for 2 days. That’s when he suffered more seizures. She filed a complaint with the Regional Human Rights Authority. They substantiated the claims and recommended further training for jail staff on how to deal with such situations.
McLean County Assistant State’s Attorney Aaron Hornsby made the decision Friday to drop all 5 felony charges. He said during a phone call that right now, this is a positive outcome. And it’s due to Lavonte’s good behavior, with no subsequent conflict with police for two years.
“He picked me up and hugged me and I was crying. I was like baby you just don’t know I’ve been fighting giants, I been fighting em’. And he said yeah but they didn’t know you was a giant. I went for broke to get my son. To clear his name,” said Rayford through tears.
“Keep fighting and don’t give up,” said Lavonte when asked what he takes away from the whole experience.
In a letter to Rayford, McLean County Sheriff John Sandage said his staff acted appropriately. When we reached out to him for comment he referred us to county administrators.
Rayford is in the process of filing civil suits against a number of organizations involved.
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