MANCHESTER, Tenn. (WSMV) – Attorneys called for the return of five Georgia children to their parents following a court hearing Monday in Coffee County.
The children have been in the care of the Department of Children's Services since a traffic stop in February.
Officers arrested the children's father after finding marijuana and a gun in the car.
A juvenile hearing was held in Coffee County on Monday.
The family did not speak on camera on Monday, but relatives said they would not give up their fight for the return of their five children.
“I can't imagine my life without my babies,” said Courtney Teasley, an attorney representing Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams.
Clayborne and Williams are the Georgia couple whose children were taken away from them on February 17 following a traffic stop in Manchester.
“A black man and his family from Georgia, where medical marijuana is legal, were on their way to a funeral in Chicago, where recreational marijuana is legal,” Teasley said.
The Coffee County arrest warrant states the couple was stopped with the children in the car because it had dark tint and was driving in the left lane without passing.
The warrant states that Williams was arrested after police found marijuana and a gun in the car.
After the arrest, the youth welfare office took the children into custody.
Colonel Matt Perry of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WSMV 4 on Friday: “We did not arrest the mother in this particular case with the intent of leaving the children with her. So we left it at that. The mother had custody of the children.”
WSMV4 asked DCS on Monday why the agency showed up and took the children.
“That's case-specific. I can't speak to you about that,” DCS spokesman Alex Denis said in court Monday, adding that the agency's primary focus is the safety and well-being of children. “We talk a lot about transparency, whether it's in terms of policies, procedures or protocols, and in this case, we believe these case managers did just that.”
Following Monday's decision, the family attorney declined to comment on why the children will not be released, saying only: “The mother will have to undergo a hair follicle test,” Teasley said.
A family friend told WSMV4 that the children were initially placed in foster care until she took them into her Antioch home earlier this month, where she said they will now return.
“This has to stop,” Teasley said.
Monday's juvenile hearing was scheduled to coincide with the criminal hearing on the marijuana charge. Those charges will now be heard on April 18.
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