DETROIT – A well-known Detroit judge has been taken off the bench temporarily after a controversial interaction with a 15-year-old girl.
The teen was visiting Tuesday, Aug. 13, as part of a trip organized by a Detroit nonprofit when she fell asleep. When Judge Kenneth J. King called her out, he didn’t like her response and ordered her to be handcuffed and detained in jail clothes.
According to 36th District Court Chief Judge William McConico, King has been removed from his criminal case docket and will undergo “necessary training to address the underlying issues that contributed to this incident.”
The mom of the teen that was handcuffed identified her daughter as 15-year-old Eva Goodman.
Goodman’s mom, Latoreya Till, said King was out of line.
“I did see the video (and) I was immediately upset,” said Till. “I was mad. He took it out of proportion.”
Till said her daughter was scared and didn’t know how to respond to King.
“He didn’t need to do all that,” Till said. “He could have sent her out the courtroom and made her sit in the hall.”
Till agrees with the disciplinary action taken against King.
“I think he got what he deserved,” Till said.
Local 4 reached out to King for comment but he declined.
“Judge King has been temporarily removed from his docket (and) will undergo the necessary training to address the underlying issues that contributed to this incident,” said 36th District Court Chief Judge William C. McConico.
