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A woman is now sitting in the Montgomery County Jail, after being accused of putting a gun in the backpack of her boyfriend's son to try and salvage a relationship with the boy's father.

Heather Darlene Hodges, 26, of Anderson, was charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon on restricted premises and unlawful transfer of a handgun to a minor.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Pct. 5 Constable's Office, who provide security for the Magnolia school district, said the school received an anonymous call Nov. 5, that a student had a pistol in his backpack.

Upon arrival, deputies found that school administrators had already removed the student from class and found an unloaded 9mm handgun in the boy's backpack.

After taking the student into custody, deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office proceeded to question the boy for several hours. Upon realizing that he was telling the truth and had no prior knowledge of the weapon, deputies began to investigate further. The boy told deputies that Hodges might have put the weapon in the backpack because she didn't like him.

Pct. 5 deputies were able to trace the anonymous phone call to a pay phone located at a nearby Exxon convenience store.

"Security video from the store led investigators to identify the anonymous caller as (Hodges)," a Pct. 5 press release stated.

The video allegedly shows Hodges car pull into the parking lot, where she then exited the vehicle and proceeded to walk to the pay phone.

During questioning detectives say that Hodges initially denied even being at the convenience store. However, once she realized she was on video, she admitted to deputies that she had placed the gun in the boy's backpack to get him in trouble with his father.

Sources told the Tribune that the boy's father was planning to move away from Magnolia and told Hodges that she would not be coming with them.

Hodges initially agreed to turn herself in to investigators, however she instead reported to her probation officer, where deputies took her into custody.
She is on probation for a 2011 theft conviction in Conroe.

Hodges is still in the Montgomery County Jail on a total of $20,000 bond. The boy was cleared of all wrongdoing by police.

Parents of students in Magnolia were a bit on edge last week, after receiving a phone call from the district stating that a student had brought a weapon to school.

Magnolia ISD officials said that they received information that a student at J.L. Lyon Elementary was in possession of a weapon, Jan. 9.

"Staff quickly recovered an unloaded firearm without incident," the district said in a written statement. "No ammunition was found in the student's possession nor was there any evidence of intent to use the weapon on campus."

School officials would provide no other information besides what was contained in the statement. The Tribune put in a public information request asking the district to release what punishment the student will face, without identifying the student. Magnolia ISD was still examining that request as of press time.

Parents at the school said the incident was disturbing.

"I got a phone call, it was a recording, telling me a kid had a gun on my daughter's campus," said Cathy House. "I was talking about it with my mother and my daughter came in. She had no idea that it happened while she was at school."

House said her daughter told her she saw police at her school.

"It's scary, especially with what happened in Connecticut," House said.

Cpt. Glenn Arnold with the Montgomery County Pct. 5 Constable's Office, the agency responsible for school security, said students were not in danger.

"(The gun) was unloaded, recovered and secured within moments of being notified," he said. "It wasn't anything with a malicious intent; the kid was just trying to show off as kids sometimes tend to do."

The district added that they are "committed to providing a safe environment for all students and will continue to work with parents and law enforcement to achieve this goal."

The student was transported to a juvenile facility, where he was expected to see a judge last Friday, according to Arnold.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office has dropped all charges against a 17-year-old Tomball student, following an incident Feb. 28, where police found a gun in the student's car.

Prosecutor's declined to file charges against 17-year-old Brett Ball, saying that the student broke no laws by having a gun in his truck on school grounds.

"The statute defines school property as excluding parking lots or parking structures," said DA spokesperson Sara Kinney.

Legislator's added the exclusion after concerns were expressed that someone who can legally carry a firearm could be arrested by merely going to pick up their child at school.

As the Tribune reported last week, police were tipped off the morning of Feb. 28 that Ball might have a weapon in his truck. When the school resource officer, Jennifer Torres, asked Ball if he had a gun, they said he admitted to it.

He was then arrested by Tomball Police and charges were filed. Only hours after the Tribune went to press, notification came that the charges were dropped.

It is not clear if Ball will still face disciplinary action from the school, as it is against school policy for student's to bring a weapon onto school grounds.