Former ‘Basketball Wives’ star Royce Reed has turned herself over to Orange County, Fla. police and been charged with neglect of a child, which is a third-degree felony.
The she’s accused of neglecting her 14-year-old son Braylon, whom she shares with athlete Dwight Howard.
via Radar Online:
According to the documents, police state Braylon is working on issues with professionals due to past incidents. Braylon was supposed to follow certain rules set by a judge — specifically, he was not allowed to hang out with kids two years younger than him without an adult.
Braylon is accused of breaking the rules and Royce is being blamed. Royce appears to have cooperated fully with investigators as did her boyfriend. Braylon was interviewed by police about the accusations.
During the chat, he was asked the last time he saw Howard. The report states Braylon said the last time was “when he was in town for a basketball game, which was a while ago.”
He said the last time he was at Howard’s home was “sometime during the 2020 quarantine.” Braylon claimed he had been in contact with his father, but they have not spoken since they got into an argument.
Reed has yet to comment on the criminal charges.
Reed and Howard have been in and out of the court over the years, as they have fought over child support and custody.
In 2014, TMZ reported that Reed went to child services in Orlando, Fla., to complain about the basketball star had whipped their son, Braylon, with a belt, leaving him with bruises on his leg.
At the time, Howard confessed he did whip his son, but he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it since that is the way he was disciplined as a kid. The case was dropped and Howard was never charged for a crime.
Howard also filed legal documents, as he wanted full custody of his son. He claimed that Reed is an unfit mother.
“It’s no coincidence that these false allegations were ‘leaked’ on the heels of Dwight filing for major custody of his son,” Howard’s rep said at the time. “It is troubling to see a mother use her son as a pawn against his father,” and that Dwight will do “whatever is necessary to protect [the child’s] welfare and best interests.”
The case eventually was closed after authorities found no “substantiated findings of physical injuries.”
However, Reed was less than happy with the outcome, writing, “The case is not closed and he is/was not cleared! The investigation is still open as he refuses to speak to the police. So whoever these reps are that are trying to slander me, just know the gloves are off and I’m not the one to play with when it comes to my son. That is all.”
Royce has since taken to Instagram to address what happened. See her post below.
