Conway families sue Maly’s Entertainment and 5 individuals after ‘racial’ attack on minors

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A Little Rock law firm has filed a civil lawsuit against Maly’s Entertainment Center and five individuals on behalf of four minors who it claims were victims of a racially motivated attack by adults at the entertainment center earlier this year.

Conway police investigating incident at popular entertainment center

A large fight broke out in January between a group of youths and adult patrons of Maly’s Entertainment after an adult allegedly called an African American boy a racial slur.

Arkansas advocacy group calls for action after large fight broke out at Conway entertainment center over the weekend

The law firm held a press conference Monday announcing the litigation.

“We will not allow adults to inflict pain and harm on our youth,” said LaTonya Chante Duncan, president of the Faulkner County chapter of the NAACP.

The lawsuit alleges battery and infliction of emotional distress by five adults against four teenage boys.

“The last thing you really expect when you let your kid go out the door is that they’re going to go somewhere where they’re going to have a ball of fun and get attacked by adults,” said Christi McCloud, mother of plaintiffs Baylen and Blade Dykes.

Then-16-year-old Marcus Gardner Jr. suffered the worst injuries of his friends, sustaining lacerations to his face.

“His mouth was all bloodied, and that’s all I saw. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, blood was just coming out,” said Marcus Gardner Sr., Gardner’s father.

Three of the adults accused of attacking the four boys have been charged with battery and/or aggravated assault in a pending criminal case separate from the civil lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the civil lawsuit also alleges negligence on the part of Maly’s Entertainment Center, which plaintiffs say did not have proper security in place to protect the four minors from attack by belligerent patrons.

The lawsuit also claims Maly’s illegally sold alcohol to the adults charged with attacking the teens because it, like other alcoholic beverage retailers in Arkansas, is prohibited from selling alcohol to a person who the retailer knows is already clearly intoxicated.

“Due to the lack of security and preparedness, lack of responsibility at the bar, a bunch of overserved adults attacked kids,” said the aunt of plaintiff Jacobi Brian Miller.

“You advertise a fun, friendly family environment to everyone, and I think you’re supposed to live up to that. You ask us for our hard earned dollars to patronize your establishment. We do that with the expectation that our kids are going to be safe in your facility,” said Gardner Sr.

We reached out to Maly’s for comment and have not heard back as of this story’s airing.