Rianne Dotson smokes a cigarette on the front steps of her grandmother鈥檚 home off South Parson鈥檚 Ave. Like the rest of the family, Dotson says she鈥檚 feeling an immense amount of grief after receiving a phone call yesterday informing her that her 16-year-old nephew had been fatally shot.
鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, and we鈥檙e wanting justice,鈥� Dotson says.
On Wednesday afternoon, Joseph Haynes was attending his hearing at the Franklin County Courthouse for a charge of menacing with a firearm. According to Dotson, her nephew was hoping to have an ankle monitor removed.
This was not the young man鈥檚 first time at the courthouse. According to law enforcement, Haynes had two previous charges, one in 2016 for a domestic violence charge and another for carrying a concealed weapon. Dotson maintains that her nephew was still a good kid; she remembers him as respectful, popular and having a good sense of humor.
鈥淵eah, he might have gotten in trouble a little bit,鈥� Dotson says. 鈥淏ut hell, everybody gets into trouble.鈥�
According to official reports, as Wednesday鈥檚 hearing concluded, a deputy at the Franklin County Courthouse was called to the courtroom. It鈥檚 not know what provoked the incident, but accounts from family members who were present, as well as law enforcement, state that a fight broke out between the deputy, Haynes and several family members of Haynes.
Dotson was not present at the courthouse, but recounted what her family members witnessed. According to her, the situation escalated when Haynes' mother tried to remove her younger son from the courtroom.
When the deputy arrived at the courtroom, Dotson says that he grabbed ahold of Haynes's mother.
鈥淭hat's when [Joseph] freaked out and he told the deputy, 鈥楪et your hands off my mom, get your hands off my mom,鈥� and [Joseph] didn't even jump on his back or nothing, he just touched him on his shoulder,鈥� Dotson says.<