The toddler disfigured in a botched Habersham County SWAT raid will get more a national profile Thursday while his family awaits the outcome of a federal investigation on whether any officers will be indicted, a lawyer for the family said.
Bounkham Phonesavanh, affectionately known as “Baby Boo Boo,” and his parents are to appear on the syndicated TV show “The Doctors,” Thursday (10 a.m. WSB-TV) and the family plans to keep telling its story in hope of receiving some measure of justice, attorney Mawuli Mel Davis told The Atlanta Journal Constitution Wednesday.
“They wanted a second opinion on whether Boo Boo will have mental difficulties from the trauma,” Davis said. “That is one benefit of appearing on the show.”
“We also think ‘The Doctors” doing this show is another example of people realizing what a tragedy this family is going through and that they should be supported.”
The family hopes the federal government, which is still investigating the raid, will bring indictments against some of the officers involved, Davis said. A Habersham County grand jury declined to indict any of the officers for what Davis called criminal negligence in the raid and potential perjury involving the search warrant despite criticizing the police actions.
“The family is just trying to remain optimistic that somebody will be held criminally liable for what happened,” he said. “We think the no-knock search warrant that was obtained was based on some false information. We’ve taken a position that is reckless conduct and that is a charge. The grand jurors chose not to follow the law and their oath.”
In May, the then 19-month-old Boo Boo’s face was disfigured and he spent weeks in a medically induced coma in Grady Memorial Hospital after a SWAT team’s flash grenade exploded near his face. The grenade landed in his crib when officers tossed it the house during the surprise raid.
The blast caused brain trauma, disconnected his nose, caused third-degree burns and other injuries — both physical and possibly psychological, Davis said. The family got second opinions from other doctors besides a neurosurgeon, he said
“He had his nipple blown off so he doesn’t have a left nipple and then there is the facial scarring,” Davis said.“He has had one plastic surgery already and they’ve been told he will continue to have to have them as his face develops. Every couple of years there is going to have to be some sort of surgery.”
In a promotional clip for the show, the family tells the cast, which includes plastic surgeon Andrew Ordon and pediatrician Jim Sears, about the trauma they experienced from the raid and the extreme financial difficulties the family it now faces
“We are in over a million dollars, not just in debt, but in collections,” Boo Boo’s mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, tells the show’s cast.
The early morning raid sparked outrage at the use of no-knock search warrant for an alleged methamphetamine dealer who the warrant said was armed and dangerous and lived at the Cordelia house residence. The raid produced no dealer, no drugs, no weapons and no drug-related cash.
Authorities arrested the alleged dealer, Wanis Thonetheva, a relative who lived elsewhere, without incident later. At the time Thonetheva was out of jail on a $15,000 bond on an unrelated-drug arrest.
Sheriff Joey Terrell has expressed great sympathy for the family for what he called a tragic accident but has admitted no wrongdoing in the raid on the part of his deputies. In August, the Habersham County Commission announced that it wouldn't reimburse the family for its medical expenses with the following statement from its attorney:
“The question before the board was whether it is legally permitted to pay these expenses. After consideration of this question following advice of counsel, the board of commissioners has concluded that it would be in violation of the law for it to do so.”
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