Court issues warning to mother of murdered Youngtown teen in lawsuit against city

Back in January, 21 News reported on a lawsuit against the City of Youngstown by the mother of a 14-year-old boy who was murdered back in 2021. Now a federal court has issued that boy's mother a warning.

According to court records, the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio received documents from the Mahoning County Juvenile Court requesting an on-camera inspection of documents responsive to a subpoena in the case.

Court records show that subpoena was issued by LaJena Solomon, the mother of 14-year-old Landon Lockhart, who was murdered in Youngstown in late 2021 after he went missing.

The subpoena was issued on April 19 with two other subpoenas issued that same day to other non-party entities requesting documents.

The court is now warning Solomon that she's prohibited from issuing any more subpoenas until after she and the city's legal counsel have participated in a case management conference scheduled for June 10.

Furthermore, the court is warning Solomon that she may not be able to represent herself in this case since it's brought on behalf of an estate. Court records show Solomon originally had an attorney in this case, but this attorney was withdrawn from the case in February and no new one had been appointed.

Solomon is accusing the city of racial bias stating that the city failed to investigate her son's disappearance in a timely manner and that the city's response to missing white women and girls demonstrates these biases.

The lawsuit claims wrongful death, a violation of the 14th Amendment right to equal protection and a survivorship claim.

According to the suit, Solomon had to wait 24 hours to file a missing child report. 24 hours later, an officer did come to her home to take the report, but the report was not filed until the following day according to the suit.

Additionally, the suit says Lockhart was classified as a runaway and not a missing child, meaning he did not fit the criteria for an AMBER Alert to be issued for him. The suit alleges Lockhart continued to be treated as a runaway despite Solomon insisting he wasn't.

You can read more about the suit in our related coverage below.

RELATED COVERAGE:

Mother of murdered Youngstown teen files lawsuit against city, officers over son's death