Hi friends and family,

It's Symone,

In March of 2024, on our way back from Mexico to see family, I was informed I had a warrant out for my arrest in Tennessee for an incident happening in late 2022. Of course, I had no idea what this was about or what it meant. I had lived in Birmingham, AL where I attend dental school since 2021 and only visited Nashville briefly to see my parents. The accusations were also extremely against my character, so it took everyone by surprise.

The authorities would not give me any more information about the warrant unless I turned myself into the police department in Nashville. With the advice of family and close friends, I hired a lawyer and began the necessary proceedings to figure out what was going on.

I was very adamant about getting the situation cleared up as fast as possible, as my reputation and the future of my education were negatively impacted by the information surfacing on social media and the internet as public knowledge.

Fernando and I paid for all of the legal fees out of pocket. I currently live on a federal student loan while in dental school, and Fernando works for a non-profit organization. Hiring a lawyer costed $2000. My bond was set at $5000 which Fernando paid close to $1000 to get me out that same day. We were also told it would cost $1000 to take down the social media post of my "arrest". Over the course of 4 months, we have had to take multiple trips to Nashville for legal procedures, costing both time and money.

We are relieved that the case was dismissed. However, the stress this has put on both of us (emotionally and financially), has been overwhelming for two people of our age. Ultimately, it was a case of mis-identification with little to no investigative work by the police department to further find who did committed the crime. Our lawyer told us that there was a very slim chance of suing the other party for emotional damages due to the circumstances and because the police were mainly at fault for the mis-identification. It would also require even more funds to open a new case.

We have done the best we can and with our family and faith we have come out on the other side. However, we had to use an unexpected amount of our funds for this ordeal. In my last year of school, I have to pay for boards and licensure exams to finish my DMD program at UAB School of Dentistry. If I could get a job while being in school to raise any additional money, I would, however that's impossible due to my classwork and clinic schedule to see patients.

So I'm reaching out to my community for any monetary help. Fernando has shouldered so much of the expenses and traveling, and I would love to replenish our finances for my upcoming boards in any way.