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MIDVALE — A Midvale family on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against their neighbor, accusing the woman of repeatedly targeting their son with expletives and racial slurs that were documented in TikTok videos that went viral late last year.
Cecillee Cummings, Bryan Izeman and their son, identified by his initials, K.C., filed the complaint against their neighbor, Kathryn Smith, in Utah's 3rd District Court. The complaint accuses Smith of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespass and false imprisonment stemming from a series of interactions dating to last May — the most recent of which they say occurred Saturday.
Smith was charged in September in Midvale Justice Court with assault, a class B misdemeanor, related to one of the confrontations with Cummings, but an attorney for the family said the harassment has continued while the criminal charges are pending.
Tyler Ayres told reporters Wednesday afternoon Smith's behavior includes abusive language and "making it clear that they're not welcome outside."
"And so, consequently, she is causing this family to live in fear, to not want to go outside and enjoy the benefits of their house," he said.
Smith drew broad condemnation from city and state leaders in December when TikTok videos of her rants went viral. Ayres said Cummings has documented all instances referenced in the complaint on video, some of which have been shared on social media.
The lawsuit accuses Smith of repeatedly using expletives and anti-Black slurs toward K.C. and other children in the neighborhood. On July 3, 2023, Smith chased K.C. — who was 9 years old at the time — and other children into another neighbor's backyard and did not allow them to leave, according to the lawsuit.
Three days later, she is accused of "telling the child that her cats were going to eat the child," according to the complaint, which said she made similar references to her cats over the following couple of days.
"Plaintiff K.C. was traumatized and frightened that ... Smith's cats were about to attack him," the lawsuit states.
Cummings went to Smith's home on July 8 to ask her to stop. Smith then mocked Cummings as a "mama bear" and "without permission, reached out to ... Cummings and poked, grabbed, and struck her pregnant belly, saying 'Get the (expletive) baby out of here,'" according to the lawsuit.
Later that month, the lawsuit alleges Smith parked in front of the Cummings home and trespassed on the property a couple of times.
Between Oct. 28, 2023, and Dec. 11, 2023, the lawsuit lists 21 confrontations between Smith and the Cummings family, with Smith allegedly using racial slurs toward K.C. several times. The most recent incidents occurred on April 7 and then again on Saturday, with Smith allegedly directing racial slurs toward K.C. and Izeman.
Ayres said the harassment has gotten so bad that K.C. no longer wants to play outside for fear of being yelled at by Smith. Michael Jensen Morgan, a former neighbor whose son was friends with K.C., said her family moved to get away from Smith after she also harassed her son by calling him "white trash" and other derogatory names.
Ayres said he hopes the lawsuit will force Smith to stop the alleged behavior. He said he's "flabbergasted" that the viral videos and attention haven't prompted change sooner.
"It's very frustrating," he said. "We live in a society that is better than this, and we shouldn't have to be fighting these things."
