MS Coast probationer goes viral in TikTok video, but judge isn’t laughing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- TikTok video shows Gulfport probationer tampering with GPS monitor
- South Mississippi judge issues warning after TikTok video surfaces, citing violation of probation terms
- Probation review set in six months; compliance will determine next steps for offender
Ayiesha Cook Bowdry thought she was just having a little fun.
The Mississippi woman — known as @momoney_27 on TikTok — posted a cheeky video in May, lip-syncing to Tyler Perry’s Madea during an attempt to pry off her ankle monitor with a slathering of butter cream lotion, a rat-tail comb, and scissors.
In the background, Madea — herself featured trying to get off an ankle monitor —quips, “Damn thing is working on my nerves,” while Bowdry mouths along. She hashtagged the clip with #housearrest, #gpsmonitor, #justjokes, #fyp, #fyp:) and more.
But some who saw the video weren’t amused, and reported it to Bowdry’s probation officer.
Her probation officer brought it to the judge’s attention, and the humor ended there.
The 15-second clip racked up more than 167,000 views and more than 10,000 likes — and also earned Bowdry a date in front of Harrison County Circuit Judge Lisa Dodson, who wasn’t amused.
Bowdry is currently on probation for failure to register as a sex offender and was previously indicted on a charge of human trafficking. The human trafficking arrest occurred during an undercover operation in Hattiesburg targeting those who traffick children for sex.
She said she’d been wearing the GPS ankle monitor for several years. The judge, after watching the video herself, described the alleged “butter cream” lotion as something closer to yellow Crisco and pointed out Bowdry’s attempts to get it off with the lotion, the rat-tail comb and scissors.
“You do look like you’re trying to get it off,” Dodson said in court. “True?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bowdry admitted.
That’s when the judge issued a stern reprimand: Bowdry was dangerously close to a probation violation. “If your probation officer wanted to, ... they could have filed a petition to revoke your probation, but they gave you the benefit of the doubt and brought it to my attention.”
“You could be sitting in jail,” the judge said.
Then came the judge’s directive: No more content of her tampering with the ankle monitor.
“You are not to make any videos, any comments — anything at all — about your ankle monitor,” Dodson said. “You leave it alone.”
If Bowdry wants to talk about her monitor, the judge said, she’s free to do so. But she warned, “You don’t touch it. You don’t try to get it off. You don’t pretend to get it off. You don’t need anybody to believe that is what you were doing.”
Dodson said Bowdry will have to return to court in six months, at which point the judge will decide whether to extend her probation, revoke it, or take other action.
She plans to make the decision after reviewing a full report from Bowdry’s probation officer for updates in her status — including whether Bowdry is paying her court fines, reporting income, and staying out of trouble both online and off.
And if Bowdry’s tempted to film another stunt with the ankle monitor?
“Your next TikTok video, if you do this again,” Dodson warned, “is going to be of the bailiff taking you out of this courtroom and into custody.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 11:53 AM.
