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Runaway Teen Back in Court After 911 Call: Judge Orders Mental Health Exam

Posted at 5:32 PM, Sep 09, 2013
and last updated 2013-09-09 18:38:26-04

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.- 14-year-old Braxton Wood and 13-year-old Jayden Thomas faced a judge in Isabella County, Monday facing juvenile charges related running away.

But, Braxton Wood was back in court just hours later after his mother called 911.

“A call came in about the mother calling stating that Braxton was out in the garage smashing windows trying to get inside the vehicle,” Sgt. Tim Swanson of the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department said.

Braxton’s mother, Sarah Kiley told the judge she was worried about her son’s mental health.

“He doesn’t care about school because if he can’t see Jayden nothing else matters,” Kiley said.

Kiley said she overreacted by calling 911.  She says Braxton was trying to get into the SUV the two teens used to get away and she was afraid of what he would retrieve from the car, or that he might harm himself.  She says he never broke any windows.

“We were worried about him being so hopeless and so helpless and we didn’t know what was in there,” Kiley said.

When the teens were found in Chicago, the back window of the SUV had been smashed, the battery was dead and they were out of gas

Kiley later said Braxton only wanted Jayden’s blanket from inside the SUV.

“After I got off the phone with 911, he had Jayden’s blanket and he was sitting on the garage floor crying,” Kiley said.

After hearing from Braxton’s mother and police Judge William Ervin ordered Braxton to have a mental health evaluation at a facility in Midland County.

Both teens remain on a tether, are not allowed to contact each other and will be back in court at the end of September for their pre-trials.