Smyrna boy dropped off in Nebraska enrolled in school there

The 12-year-old Smyrna boy whose mother drove him to Nebraska and dropped him off at a safe haven is now in school at Boys Town, Neb.

Tysheema Brown said Boys Town administrators notified her last month that her son could attend classes at the internationally renowned facility for troubled children. He’s been there since Dec. 14, a spokeswoman for Boys Town said.

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Bob Andres / bandres@ajc.com

Tysheema Brown arrives at Cobb County juvenile court in October after she dropped off her 12-year-old son in Nebraska under the state’s safe haven law.

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“I’m relieved,” Brown said Thursday afternoon.

The boy’s return to Nebraska represents the latest twist in a story that began in late October, when Brown packed her son in the family car and drove through the night. She left him at a hospital in Lincoln, Neb., 1,000 miles away.

Brown chose Nebraska because the state’s “safe haven” law — intended to be a safety net for unwanted newborns — had no age cap. The boy became one of dozens of teenagers whose desperate parents dropped them off at hospitals and other public facilities without fear of prosecution.

Nebraska lawmakers have since amended that law, adding a 30-day age limit. In Georgia, the safe-haven age cap is 7 days old.

Brown said she took her son to Nebraska after deciding he would get no more help in Georgia from schools, courts or social services. School officials have disputed her claim; saying they tried to help the boy. But going to Nebraska, Brown learned, did not end her problems — or her son’s.

On Oct. 27, Nebraska officials put the boy on a plane headed back to Georgia. With him were representatives of the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Officials placed the child in foster care. A custody hearing is scheduled for March 19 in Cobb Juvenile Court.

Brown got welcome news in December, said Marietta lawyer John Brocard, the child’s court-appointed attorney. She attended Boys Town and credits the school with saving her life.

“His mom wanted him to be there and he wanted to be there,” Brocard said. “He was ready.”

Her son, Brown said, is doing fine.