Michigan Teen Who Was Once Handcuffed By Grand Rapids Police At Age 11, Dies Of Coronavirus at 14

A Michigan girl who made headlines when she was 11-years-old for being handcuffed by police officers has died of coronavirus complications.

According to a GoFundMe set up by her grandmother, Honestie Hodges, 14, was taken to Helen Devos Children’s Hospital and tested positive for coronavirus and sent home. Later that evening, she returned to the hospital and was moved to ICU.

While in the ICU, Honestie was placed on a ventilator and received blood transfusions. She also began to experience brain complications.

Alisa Niemeyer, the girl’s grandmother, updated the online fundraiser on Sunday to share that Honestie had passed away.

“It is with an extremely heavy heart that I have to tell all of you that my beautiful, sassy, smart, loving Granddaughter has gone home to be with Jesus,” she wrote.

In December of 2017, a Grand Rapids police officer handcuffed Honestie as police searched for one of her aunts who was a suspect related to a stabbing. Body camera footage of the incident shows Honestie crying and asking the officers not to cuff her.

The Grand Rapids Police Department found that to officers involved did not violate any department policies; however, the department implemented “Honestie Policy,” a youth interaction policy resulting from the incident.