Outside a courtroom relatives of Manuela Reyes
wept the assistant principal shot by the mother
of three said the incident has also traumatized
his family but he will return this fall to Naaman
Forest High I love kids and I'm not going to
change just because of one person you know because
they reacted the way they did.
Assistant Principal Steve Baker was rushed to
the hospital last fall
after Mrs. Reyes came to his office and shot
him in the leg with a semi-automatic pistol.
She was angry because Baker had suspended her
son Johnny
for having a haircut that violates school policy.
In court, Mrs. Reyes' attorney argued that this
case was not simply about a mother
and how she dealt with anger.
It was also about a school system and how it
dealt with troubled kids.
A good principal, a good teacher never would
have been in this situation.
Attorney Daniel Solis says 14-year-old Johnny,
walking here with his mother,
had bad grades and behavior problems that might
have improved with school counseling.
That instead of counseling, Johnny got punishment.
You know, you care for these kids. You need to
get after them.
You need to encourage them, know their parents.
I think the school district did everything that
it could
within the time limits that we had Johnny in
the school district.
Baker says the frustration that drove Mrs.
Reyes reflects a frustration in society,
a society that now leaves an unemployed father
in college alone with three children
and a wife in prison after committing her first crime.
Shelley Koffler, Texas News 5.