I had always told Bobby that if he went back to Training School that I would not come to see him. And concerning the events that put him there this time, I didn't want to see him. I was very angry that we couldn't get any help with him. And I knew that he was able and fully capable of behaving himself. I  just couldn't take the stress any longer. There comes a time when you have to cut the ties.

We went to two hearings at Family Court.  The first one was just the matter of them holding him until the case could be heard and certain testing was done. The second hearing kept getting postponed until after he turned fifteen in September.  We were told that if they had tried his case before that birthday, then he would be sent to the same training school he had been at before. And the problem with that was they only took boys until their fifteenth birthdays, then they were turned back over to the parents.

So two days after his fifteenth birthday was the second hearing, he was sentenced to one year in Training School at Oakley in Jackson.  It was later determined that he could not be returned to Tim because of the incident with Lee. And by the time this came about I had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and had a vision problem that would prevent me to be able to protect myself or my new daughter.  He was then considered a ward of the state and went to a type of foster home for troubled youth.

We have had no direct contact with him until July of 2000. He was present at my father's funeral. He showed to be the same in attitude and behavior. He was smoking cigars and throwing trash on the ground at the church where a luncheon was held after the services. I saw that being away from his family did nothing for his outlook. And had no affect on his behavior.

Shortly there after I had heard that he had to be removed from the house he was living in due to inappropriate behavior with one of the girl residents. He was moved to another one, that one didn't last long either. There he refused to obey the rules, and take medications  that he was on. Also was accused of stealing from the restaurant that he was working part time at. After a physical fight with one of the house parents, he was removed yet again.

When he transferred to another city and halfway house. The day that he was taken there by a social worker. He became angry over the rules of the house and tried to start another physical fight. Neither the house parent or the social worker was willing to fight with him. He ran away from there. The social worker filed a runaway report with the local police. And he informed me that he had done all that he could. But thought I needed to know that he was no longer considered a ward of the state. He was non compliant with the system.  For several weeks there was no word from him. He finally called my mother and said he was living with a friend in Jackson.

My mother will receive a call from him every couple months. Usually he is full of new stories of different things. Like where he is working and where he is living. One time said he was gong into the army. Another time it was something else. So still nothing had changed.