A Buffalo mother’s plea for help keeping children and teens out of trouble

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – A 14-year-old boy from Buffalo was killed this weekend in a crash at Elmwood Avenue and Amherst Street.

According to police, he drove a stolen car through a red light at a high rate of speed and crashed into two other vehicles.

The story has sparked a larger discussion on social media, with many voices speaking out about who they believe should be held accountable. Some who sounded pointed fingers at parents.

One Buffalo mom pushes back against that view and offers a perspective you may not have heard before.

Raymonda Reynolds said she has experience keeping her own child out of trouble with the police, and shared her story with me.

“They said, ‘Where are the parents?’ I’ve seen that so many times,” Reynolds said. “‘The parents should go to jail,’ ‘The parents are letting these kids run wild,’ and that made me angry.”

Reynolds said she is angry and terrified. She fears that what happened to that 14-year-old could also happen to her 15-year-old son. She said that together with his father they are doing everything they can to help him change his life.

“We’re here, and my child has a support system,” Reynolds said. “He has both sides of his family. Nobody uses drugs. Nothing like that.’

Reynolds contacted me after seeing the comments about parents online and we had a very honest conversation about what it’s like when your child keeps getting into trouble with the law.

“I’ve seen him run away, be caught stealing in the community, be violent and not go to school,” Reynolds said. “I’ve called the police so many times… they tell me: there’s nothing we can do.”

“When my son stole the car, I said, ‘Can’t you take him to East Ferry? Something? Scare him a little?’ He said no,” Reynolds explained.

The same goes for the agencies that are supposed to help. They said there’s nothing they can do, and Reynolds said the teens know.

“They have no consequences and they know it,” Reynolds said. “They know this: the system has taken parenthood away from us.”

She begs someone to do something.

“I don’t want my son in jail, I don’t want my son in a cemetery,” Reynolds said. “The laws need to be changed. They need to be changed.”

I presented her plea to Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia and he agreed with her.

“A 14-year-old shouldn’t be dead in a car accident, shouldn’t be dead in an encounter like this. The laws are against us… I’ve said that many times,” Gramaglia said.

Reynolds hopes someone has a way to solve this before another tragedy strikes.