Stephanie Horton was in a state of panic on Wednesday night when her 9-year-old son, Kamian Strawder, was missing. She called police in worry after he failed to return home as he was instructed.
Horton later found out that her son wasn’t exactly missing, he was in fact taken into police custody after being accused of performing a home invasion.
The third-grader was expelled from Palmer Park Prep School earlier that week and had nowhere to go but home.
Horton headed out to her job at 9 am on Wednesday and Strawder headed outside to play with his friends. That night he never returned back home so Horton phoned police.
One day later the police called to inform her that her son wasn’t missing, he was in their custody. Late on Thursday Horton learned the prosecutors dropped the case.
“About two hours ago is when I got the call,” Horton tells reporters. “They said they have had him in the detention since 1 pm yesterday.”
When Horton went to pick her son up from the Juvenile Detention Center on Thursday afternoon, she learned that Strawder was arrested on Wednesday. Police took him into custody when walking down the street, he and a teenaged friend were accused of breaking into a home down the street from where they were picked up.
“I asked how I could not be notified until 24 hours later,” Horton said. “No explanation, no information, no anything.”
Detroit police claim that Strawder told them he didn’t have his mother’s number so instead they went to her home. No one was there.
“I’m still in shock, relieved, upset, I’m going through a bunch of emotions,” she tells.
She was still concerned about her son’s well-being, who has been in trouble many times before. She is also concerned about the company that he keeps.
“There are some older guys who come and take him and he does what they tell him to do,” Horton said. “We have been having a problem with that, coinciding with an officer trying to keep them away from here, but to no avail.”
Horton, who works full time, is still trying to get a handle on her son now, before it becomes too late.
