By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hathaway dismissed the case against Samantha Eubanks, of Dearborn who faced child abuse and firearm felony charges related to a child shooting other children at her house in 2017.
According to court records, the case was dismissed on July 19 after a motion to quash the information was made by defense attorney TaTaNisha Reed June 12.
Reed did not answer phone calls asking for further details by press time. A call to Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Tink was also unreturned.
A final conference was also held on July 19 before the jury trial originally scheduled to begin on Sept. 10 was canceled by Judge Cynthia Hathaway July 22.
Between September 2018 and July a bench trial also was canceled, the case was bound over to the 36th District Court and re-bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court, the court documents revealed.
An arraignment of information was held on April 22 where Eubanks stood mute and a plea of not guilty was entered into the record.
Eubanks was charged with 12 counts of second degree child abuse and two counts of felony firearms violations. Her husband, Timothy Eubanks, was sentenced to up to two years of probation for six counts of second degree child abuse.
He pleaded guilty to the charges on June 11, 2018, avoiding a jury trial.
Hathaway handed down the sentence to Timothy Eubanks during a hearing on Feb. 15 and also said she would review the probation sentencing on Feb. 20, 2020.
As part of Timothy Eubanks’ sentencing, he is required to start a national gun safety campaign to educate and reach out to millions of people to let them know what his “carelessness, thoughtlessness and negligence” caused.
Hathaway said she wanted Eubanks to inform the public about gun safety practices and home firearm safety courses, something he couldn’t do if he was in jail.
The Eubanks own the house in the 3600 block of Harding where their 3-year-old son shot two other boys on Sept. 26, 2017.
Police and fire responded to the house at 10:30 a.m. on the report of a shooting where the toddler shot Kaeson Dishon and Damien Galante. A primary investigation revealed the possibility both boys were injured from a single shot.
Samantha Eubanks was watching six children, ages 4 months to 3 years, including her own, inside the house. The unsecured handguns were in the upstairs bedroom low enough for the Eubanks’ son to gain access, police said. Other weapons left in the house by Timothy Eubanks in addition to the gun were recovered by officers.
According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the house was not licensed as a home daycare.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])