Family tells their side of the story

BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — School district officials and law enforcement quickly de-escalated a situation involving a 15-year-old Martin County High School student who posted photos of himself holding a handgun after he was suspended for behavioral issues.

Martin County Schools Superintendent Larry James began receiving phone calls and messages Wednesday evening from parents after their children showed them social media photos of the juvenile holding the firearm.

James immediately contacted Martin County Sheriff John Kirk.

“This situation was immediately addressed by the sheriff’s office and our school administrators, and no students were ever in danger,” James said.

The sheriff and Deputy Chris Kidd went to the teen’s home Thursday and took the gun, which they found fully loaded and lying on a nightstand. The gun was described as a Springfield XDS 9mm and belonged to Robert Barras, 35, of Tomahawk, who lived at the residence.

The officers arrested Barras for endangering the welfare of a minor, saying he did not secure the weapon and had allowed the juvenile access to the firearm.

The student was suspended for the remainder of the school year and is not allowed back on school property.

Later that evening, James was again contacted by parents who said the suspended student was posting photos of himself with a firearm on Snap Chat and they feared he had acquired another weapon.

Upon further investigation, officers learned the photos were from Wednesday’s original incident involving the same gun.

Friday morning, the sheriff and two officers were at the high school to calm the fears of staff, students and parents.

“I commend Sheriff Kirk for his quick response and continued concern for the safety of our students and staff members,” said James.

James also visited all schools in the county to meet with principals and explain the situation so they would have the correct information concerning the incident.

The student had moved to Eastern Kentucky from Nevada to live with relatives and enrolled at the high school. The superintendent said he was told the suspended student would be leaving the county and relocating back to Nevada.

“The safety and welfare of our students is and will always be our top priority,” said James. “I’m very thankful this incident was quickly defused and ended peacefully. In the age of social media and technology being readily available at every turn, situations like this are more common than we realize. This is new ground for us, but it’s happening all across the nation. We will not tolerate such behavior from any of our students. They will be held accountable for their actions.”

Several parents feared for the safety of their high school students and kept them home Friday. James asks that all students return to class Monday.

Family tells their side of the story

Melody Barras is the mother of Robert Barras, the man arrested last week in Tomahawk for having a gun in his home. She said her son is guilty of nothing but trying to help a broken child have a better life.

The Barras family is not native to Martin County. Living in a fast-paced city in Nevada close to the Arizona border, Melody Barras and her husband felt the urge for several years to find a peaceful location in a small town and leave the stress behind.

While visiting with a family member in D.C., the couple drove through Virginia. Although the backdrop was beautiful, there were other important boxes the state didn’t check off for them.

Months of research led them to eastern Kentucky. They purchased a property in Tomahawk and have been living the life they once only dreamed about for the last two years. They were acclimating to their new surroundings without difficulty.

“Approximately five months ago, my son Robbie, his wife and four children spoke with my husband and me about following in our footsteps and making the move to Kentucky, believing the potential to open a restaurant, which was my son’s dream, could happen here a lot faster than in an area where the cost of living is out of reach,” stated Barras. “We welcomed not only their six-member family but my daughter-in-law’s nephew as well. He had lived with them for five months or so before they relocated.”

According to Barras, the juvenile had experienced severe difficulties, abuse and neglect, and his mother had made it known that she would not keep him. 

“My daughter-in-law felt her nephew deserved a chance at a better life. To help make that happen, she and my son accepted him into their home and were determined to show him love and attention and hopefully give him security and a place to belong. It was rough from day one, but she wouldn’t give up on him – we none did. But little did we know how bad the situation would get,” explained Barras.

“He went against us at every turn, no matter how hard we tried to help him. He took every opportunity we offered and threw it back in our faces.”

Barras said that when the juvenile was suspended for the second time from school, he broke into a locked room of their home, plundered in drawers, the closet and under furniture, and found the handgun. She said her son had accidentally forgotten to place the gun back in his truck after arriving home from an outing – that it slipped his mind.

“My son has never been in trouble a day in his life,” said Barras. “He is a source of constant pride for his dad and me. He’s a college graduate and married his wife, who had four children from a previous marriage and loves them like they’re his own. That tells you what type of person he is. Most men would have run away, but not Robbie. He didn’t hesitate to step up into the role of father.”

Barras said her son didn’t deserve to be arrested because of an accidental oversight, and the fact that the juvenile picked the lock on a room he was not allowed in and posed for photos with the handgun showed his determination to continue causing problems.

“My son is guilty of nothing except trying to help a child have a chance at a better life. I guess the saying ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ is really true,” remarked Barras. “I pray the court will see this for what it truly is and drop the charges. I do not want this stigma attached to my son and my family, and I definitely don’t want it to prevent him from seeing his dream of becoming a restaurant owner become a reality.

“We chose to live here. We want to be part of the community. When we made this move, we knew in our hearts we wanted Kentucky to be our forever home. My son and his life are devastated over what happened, and we hope this situation will resolve quickly and in his favor so we can move forward.”

Robert Barras will appear Dec. 5 in court.