Mother says teenager accused in alleged attempted kidnapping in Dallas continues to suffer mental anguish

LOS ANGELES — After Dallas police arrested a attempted kidnapping in the far north of Dallas last MondayMelissa Ashby began receiving messages.

She said the person identified as a suspect was her teenage son.

“He was scared to death on Monday night when he tried to talk to me about it,” she said. “He was very afraid.”

Ashby said her son and his friend were waiting for another friend who lives on Old Pond Drive when they saw a group of young boys walking by.

“He, as friendly as he is, said, 'Oh, you look like you could play football well,' and to the boy who ran last in the blue shorts, he said, 'I don't talk to strangers, piss off,'” she said.

Ashby said her son thought it would be a good idea to approach her.

“My son has a form of autism, he's pretty high functioning, but one of the things he struggles with is social boundaries,” Ashby said. “He saw the mom filming, panicked and just went back to the car.”

The incident went viral when the boys told their story.

“I think they changed their portrayal in many of the different interviews,” she said.

Ashby said she was told detectives had visited her son's school, but the principal told her they had only spoken to his friend. She said she then voluntarily visited detectives last Tuesday night in hopes of solving the case.

“I said, 'Are you going to update this because my son is being portrayed as a criminal all over the country and that's not true?'” she said.

On Thursday, the police gave an update. They stated that the investigation is still ongoing. The identified people involved are minors and have cooperated. In this case, investigators do not believe there is a danger to the public.

“It wasn’t clear to the public,” Ashby said.

She said her son was cleared of any wrongdoing. She just wishes the information had come to light sooner.

“People everywhere are very scared,” she said. “They think the cartel is coming. It's out of control and that really worries me.”