Mental anguish remains after teen accused in alleged attempted Dallas kidnapping cleared, mom says
DALLAS — After Dallas police reported an attempted kidnapping in far north Dallas last Monday, Melissa Ashby started getting messages.
She said the person who was identified as the suspect is her teenage son.
"He was terrified on Monday night when he came to talk to me about it," she said. "He was very scared."
Ashby said her son and his friend were waiting on another friend who lives on Old Pond Dr. when they saw a group of young boys walk by.
"He, as friendly as he is, said 'Oh, you look like you would be good at playing football' and the one boy, who is the last one seen running in the blue shorts, he told him, 'I don't talk to strangers, f*** off,'" she said.
Ashby said her son thought it would be a good idea to address them.
"My son does have a form of autism, he's pretty high functioning, but one of the things that he struggles with is social boundaries," Ashby said. "He saw the mom filming and got panicked and just went back to the car."
The incident went viral as the boys shared their story.
"I think their narrative on many of the different interviews that they did change," she said.
Ashby said she learned detectives visited her son's school but was told by the principal they only spoke to his friend. She said she then voluntarily visited detectives last Tuesday night, hoping to clear things up.
"I said, 'Are you guys going to update this because my son is being plastered across the nation as a criminal and it's not true,'" she said.
On Thursday, police gave an update. They stated the investigation is ongoing. The involved individuals identified were minors and have been cooperating. In this case, detectives do not believe there is a threat to the public.
"It has not been clear cut to the public," Ashby said.
She said her son has been cleared of any wrongdoing. She only wishes that information had come out sooner.
"People everywhere are completely scared," she said. "They think that the cartel is coming. It has gotten out of control and it's really concerning to me."