A mom is fighting to get what she says is justice for her son after her 12-year-old was accused of making shooting threats.
Deputies say Sir'isa Woodard was caught on camera threatening the school after he got involved in a fight.
"My son is not a criminal. This is his first time in trouble ever," said Lakesia Taylor.
Lakesia Taylor said her 12-year-old son Sir'isa Woodard is not a troubled child and believes he shouldn't be facing a felony charge for making a mass shooting threat.
"I'm going to let my son know that I'm fighting, so he don't feel like he's alone and that he did anything wrong because he feared for his life," Taylor said.
A fight broke out along Midway Boulevard between two Port Charlotte middle school students. It was all captured on video and posted to Snapchat. The video showed 12-year-old Sir'isa Woodard on the phone saying, "Bring the gun, ma, bring the gun."
"He started to push on my son aggressively. Calling him names. My son is trying to get away from this young man. I'm very hurt because I can see that my son was scared. Like I've never seen my child scared," Taylor said.
Taylor said deputies came to their home last week to interview Sir'isa. They said her son denied being involved until they showed him the Snapchat video. He claimed it was old and it was a friend's BB gun.
"I allowed Charlotte County deputies into my home to search for this gun. My son told them that it was a BB gun. He never lied about it. He told them that he did it to scare the boy, to keep the boy away from him," Taylor said.
Detectives then found that Sir'isa also sent a message through Snapchat stating, "If I get beat up, ima start shooting this (expletive) up."
"Nowhere in any of the messages that I have read that my son stated I am going to shoot up a school. Never, never stated," Taylor said.
Taylor's son is at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Lee County. In the meantime, Taylor says she will do everything she can to help her son.
"I am currently getting a lawyer because I'm going to fight for my son, and I will not allow them. So put these types of charges on my son's background, and I know my son's character," Taylor said.
We also reached out to the sheriff's office, but they didn't want to comment on the case.
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