‘Basketball Wives’: Royce Reed Charged With Child Neglect, Enters Plea

Weeks after former Basketball Wives star Royce Reed turned herself in to Florida authorities on charges of child neglect, the 41-year-old professional dancer is preparing to fight the criminal accusations filed against her. Reed has entered a plea of not guilty. She is accused of failing to abide by a court order regarding her 14-year-old son, Braylon, whom she shares with former Orlando Magic player Dwight Howard. Per court documents, their son is currently working through issues with professionals over past incidents regarding anger and inappropriate sexual behavior with other children. 

Reed’s son admitted to forcing the son of Reed’s boyfriend to touch his genitals. As a result, he’s been barred from being around children more than two years younger than him without adult supervision. After the order was reportedly violated, a warrant was issued for Reed. she voluntarily turned herself in.

Along with Reed’s not guilty plea, her lawyer Andrea Black filed a demand for discovery. Radar Online reports that Black is requesting a list of all people known to the prosecutor who have information about the charge, any written/oral statements made by a co-defendant, and all witnesses the prosecutors plan on using and any notes/photos from the investigation.

While in police custody, Reed was interviewed by law enforcement and cooperated fully. Her boyfriend named in the documents was also asked questions by the police. Reed’s brother and mother were present for moral support. Reed made just one statement via her Instagram story regarding the ordeal, saying her attorney would be handling everything. Howard has not spoken about the matter at all, but the nature of his relationship with his son is unknown.

Reed and Howard have a contentious co-parenting history. They’ve been in and out of court since Braylon was born for custody and child support-related matters. Reed was also served a gag order by Howard, banning her from speaking publicly about their issues. Throughout Reed’s four seasons on the VH1 reality series, Braylon was not shown. However, she does document him on her social media pages.