A Georgia couple is fighting to get their five children back, including their four-month-old son, a month after they were taken from them by child services following a traffic stop where officers found marijuana and a gun.
Deonte Williams and Bianca Clayborne were passing through Tennessee on February 17 when they were pulled over for their tinted windows and “were traveling in the left lane without actively passing,” a citation obtained by the tennessee lookout read
The couple was traveling on Interstate 24 to a funeral in Chicago when an officer pulled them over and decided to search their car. Williams was arrested when officers discovered a firearm and marijuana up to five grams.
Clayborne and her children were allowed to leave, but it wasn’t until six hours later, while she was waiting for Williams to be released, that the police approached her with an emergency warrant and took her newborn baby along with her two, three , five and seven years old.
A month later, Clayborne and Williams are still trying to get their children back, but were delayed due to multiple drug tests that revealed the couple tested positive for marijuana, oxycodone, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams are fighting to get their five children, ages 4 to 7 months, back after they were taken away by child services.
Deonte Williams (above) was arrested when officers discovered a firearm and marijuana weighing up to five grams while being pulled over in Tennessee on February 17 for their tinted windows.
The court order to remove the children alleged that the children were neglected, but the couple claimed that this was untrue.
Clayborne said three child services officers approached her in her Dodge parked outside the Coffee County Criminal Justice Center as she waited for Williams to be released on bail on his misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
While Clayborne was nursing her baby, now four months old, a worker got into the car and said, “I’m taking your kids,” according to the Tennessee Lookout.
The officer ordered Clayborne to complete a drug test inside while they waited with their children, but she refused, saying she was “not comfortable.”
The worker got out of Clayborne’s car and about six men surrounded the vehicle.
“The mother became very defiant and locked herself and the children in the vehicle,” read court records obtained by the news outlet.
Despite Clayborne insisting that he did not plan to flee, an officer placed spike strips in front of his car to prevent him from leaving.
The agents then left Clayborne alone until six hours later, when she went out to wait for Williams at a bank.
It was then that Clayborne’s five children were taken from him.
“My baby started crying, so I reached for my son, and as I did, a man hugged me and said, ‘Don’t touch him. They’re going to take him away,'” Clayborne told the outlet.
Clayborne said three child services officers approached her in her Dodge parked outside the Coffee County Criminal Justice Center while she was waiting for Williams to be released on bail for her misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Files from children’s services obtained by the news outlet allege that some of the five children call Williams “the weed man.”
They even “showed (a social worker) how to roll a joint and said that the parents take them with them to sell the weed,” a file from February 23 read.
Around the same time that the couple appeared before the Coffee County Juvenile Judge for their first court hearing, they were ordered to take a urine drug test, according to the news outlet.
Williams tested positive for marijuana while Clayborne’s results were negative. The two were then ordered to take the test again, but this time providing a sample of a lock of hair.
Williams and Clayborne’s results came back positive for several drugs. The two denied taking drugs and their argument was supported by Nashville testing expert Greg Bowen, who called the tests unreliable and known for generating “too many false positives,” he said, according to the news outlet.
“As a result of drug testing, the children should be considered seriously abused,” the department of children’s services wrote in a February 23 report, the news outlet reported.
Williams denied having marijuana anywhere near her children, but 5 grams of marijuana were obtained during Williams’ initial arrest.
The couple will return to court on March 20.
Tennessee Sen. London Lamar (center) spoke out about the couple’s situation and ordered officials to return the five children.
Lamar called the case “ridiculous,” especially since marijuana is legalized in several US states.
In addition to frequent visits to Tennessee, Williams and Clayborne are able to reach their children by phone.
Williams described the situation as a “kidnapping” and claimed that she is now in dire financial straits and has to spend money on multiple trips to see her children.
Heartbroken Clayborne claimed she has been emotionally distraught since her children were taken from her.
‘The first night my chest was full; it was so painful,’ he told the news outlet.
Clayborne’s extreme panic has caused her to unintentionally lose weight and her milk supply has been reduced.
“It’s to the point where I don’t think I’m producing enough milk,” Clayborne told the news outlet.
Tennessee Senator London Lamar has since spoken out about the couple’s situation and ordered officials to return the five children.
“I am publicly demanding that DCS return this couple to their children,” Lamar said at a news conference. “The Coffee County justice system was completely out of line for taking their children on a lesser charge.”
Lamar called the case “ridiculous,” especially since marijuana is legalized in several states in the US.
