Mom Accused Of Calling Threatening To ‘Blow Up’ Son’s School Over Lunch Portions Claims She’s Innocent
She claims she's innocent.
BlurryMe / Shutterstock / YouTube A Florida woman was arrested after being accused of making a bomb threat against her son's high school because he wasn't being fed enough at the cafeteria.
Anaya Metoya Smith, 41, was taken into police custody after being accused of leaving threatening voice mail at Cocoa High School on Feb. 3 around 5:30 p.m.
The mom allegedly threatened to 'blow up' Cocoa High School.
“If you don’t start feeding my ... children better ... I’m gonna come round ... and blow that mother ... up,” Smith allegedly said in her voicemail.
The school employee who heard the message the next morning immediately called law enforcement. The school was evacuated and searched, but no explosives were found on school grounds.
No name was left on the voicemail but reports suggest a search of school records matched the number used to make the bomb threat to Smith's cell phone number.
However, the mom denies this.
According to reports, a school resource officer confirmed that Smith's son had gotten into an argument with a cafeteria worker over the food portions earlier in the day before Smith had left the voicemail.
The school officer also said that he recognized Smith's voice on the recording due to having previous confrontations with her.
Smith claims she has been misidentified.
However, Smith denies that it was her who had left the threatening voicemail, telling WOFL that "it was just a total shock. Especially when you’re sitting in there, and you know you haven’t done anything wrong."
"I don’t even talk like that," Smith said. "Anybody who knows me knows I don’t talk that way."
Smith was released from jail Thursday, one day after her arrest, after posting a cash or surety bond of $5,250. She was charged with false report of bombing or arson against state-owned property, a felony, and disruption of an education institution, a misdemeanor.
Smith's sister, Andrea Johnson, also claims that the police arrested the wrong person.
"She’s been falsely accused based on documentation that was messed up at Cocoa High School," Johnson said to CBS affiliate WKMG, claiming that the phone number used in the voicemail didn't belong to Smith and the student listed in the affidavit wasn't Smith's child.
"Not her son, not her telephone. Not her anything," Johnson continued. "It’s all going to be cleared up and we’re going to take care of her, but there are definitely some people who need to be held accountable because this is not the way that it’s supposed to go."
In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for Brevard Public Schools said that they're thankful the incident hadn't escalated.
"The school district is very thankful for the responsiveness of law enforcement the day of the bomb threat and their subsequent investigation. It’s a police matter,” Russell Bruhn said, also revealing that Smith's son no longer attends the school.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.