Case Summaries
Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is supporting community members in Person County, North Carolina, who are fighting for accountability, transparency, and the rights of families to stay together.
In May 2025, 1-year-old Kemari Morgan died in the custody of Person County Department of Social Services (DSS). Only months before, DSS had removed Kemari from his mother Briauna Morgan’s care and placed him in the home of an unlicensed foster parent.
In the wake of this tragedy, rather than providing necessary information and resources to Briauna, a grieving mother, county officials weaponized the legal system in an apparent effort to avoid public scrutiny and accountability. When Briauna’s supporters began raising questions about the foster parent’s criminal liability and the county’s negligent conduct, officials responded with criminal charges and civil no-contact orders. The same county judge who granted DSS’s request to place Kemari in an unlicensed foster home presided over the criminal and civil cases. Even Briauna faced efforts to silence her.
In December 2025, nearly seven months after Kemari died, the Person County District Attorney’s Office indicted the foster mother for second-degree murder.
Why it's Important
SCSJ is part of a growing coalition — in North Carolina and nationally — of families, organizers, and lawyers, working together to keep families together. Too often, the family regulation system (also known as the child welfare system) and the criminal legal system intertwine to perpetuate harm by breaking apart families, forcing children into foster care, terminating parental rights and placing children up for adoption, and criminally charging parents as a mechanism to facilitate the removal of their children.
This story continues to unfold in Person County. Briauna and her supporters are still reckoning with how their demands for accountability and transparency were met with legal force. And justice for Kemari and Briauna has yet to be achieved.
It is a harrowing example of the urgent need to divest from the family regulation system and invest in family and community-oriented systems of care. SCSJ is committed to protecting the right to care for one’s own family, to protest, to critique the government — and guard against retaliation from the state for exercising these rights.
Cases
No-Contact Orders
- Latisha Linzsey v. Briauna Morgan: SCSJ represented Morgan after Linzsey, the foster parent, sought a no-contact order to prevent Briauna from publicly speaking about Linzsey and her connection to Kemari’s death. The no-contact order was ultimately dismissed.
- Person County v. Latisha Facyson, Sharrocka Pettiford, Amanda Wallace: SCSJ represents three community members against whom Person County sought no-contact orders. The three individuals were protesting and raising awareness about Kemari’s death.
Criminal Charges
- State v. Wallace: SCSJ represents Amanda Wallace, founder of Operation Stop CPS, a non-profit organization, who was charged with second-degree criminal trespass. The charge was brought by former Person County DSS Director Carlton Paylor. The case is scheduled for a jury trial in August 2026.
Case Documents
Rule 60(b) Motion
Other Related Cases
Durham County v. Amanda Wallace
Southern Coalition for Social Justice represented Ms. Amanda Wallace during a day-long hearing in Durham County District Court.
Read More Durham County v. Amanda Wallace
State v. Sheryl Smith
SCSJ is standing up against the family policing system on behalf of Sheryl Smith, a dedicated activist in the Durham community for nearly two decades.
Read More State v. Sheryl Smith
State v. Mariah King
SCSJ represents Mariah King against criminal charges resulting from her family’s interactions with Durham County Department of Social Services (DSS). Relying on a holistic defense model, SCSJ is working closely with Ms. King’s family court team from Carolina Parent Defenders and Emancipate NC.
Read More State v. Mariah King