A heartbreaking scene unfolded in St. Johns County, Florida, where police bodycam footage captured a mother’s emotional collapse after years of alleged abuse from her teenage son.
The woman, identified as Jillian Scandora, called authorities to her home after another heated confrontation with her 15-year-old son. Through tears, she described years of living in fear — saying the boy had dragged her across gravel, vandalized their home, destroyed cars, and repeatedly threatened to harm her and her elderly father.
“He’s a torturer. A malignant narcissist,” Scandora said in tears. “He’s gonna kill my 79-year-old father. He’s twice my size. I could hit him all day, but I don’t. I just can’t take care of him anymore.”
According to Scandora, her son has been in therapy “forever” and was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, but she claimed he refuses to take medication or accept treatment. “No one will help me,” she cried. “I’ve been telling his therapist and doctors for a decade — he needs to be removed from my home.”
Officers tried to calm her down as she pleaded for her son to be taken away. “You can put me in jail, I don’t care,” she said. “I’d have more peace in jail.”
The teen, described as calm during the encounter, has a history of legal trouble, including bomb threats at school, according to his mother. Despite her desperation, police reminded Scandora she could not legally expel her underage son from the home without proper intervention from child services.
The incident underscores the emotional and psychological toll that families face when dealing with severe behavioral and mental health challenges — and the lack of effective long-term support systems for both parents and children in crisis.
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