HOUSTON — A Houston couple said they were taking pictures of their 11-month-old daughter when a woman angrily confronted them -- and video of the encounter has now gone viral.
Kelyn Alyssa wrote on Facebook that she and her husband, Isaiah Allen, were taking pictures of their daughter Saturday in an esplanade located in Houston's Broadacres neighborhood. The spot is popular with photographers, KTRK-TV reported.
As Alyssa and her husband posed their baby with balloons and a blanket, a woman stepped out of a car and approached them. KTRK identified the woman as Franci Neely, a Houston lawyer, socialite and ex-wife of Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
“This is private property,” Neely can be heard yelling in the video. She can also be seen slapping at Allen’s phone twice, and trying to move the props the couple’s daughter was posing with.
On Saturday 02.16.19 my husband and I went to North Blvd in Houston to have some photos taken of our daughter to celebrate her first birthday. Its a well known public trail where many people have photos taken. When we arrived there were several other photographers in the vicinity, working with their clients. Our photographer arrived and we began setting up. We set up on the path for the baby to sit with small props (to match the scale of the baby) and began taking our shots. During the shoot there were lots of people jogging and walking their dogs who gave us wide berth (lots of room to do so) and even wished the baby happy birthday with a sweet smile as they passed by. About 35 minutes into our 1hr shoot we heard a voice shouting in our direction - and when we turned to look it was this woman rolling up in her car, shouting through her window: “You are trampling the grass that WE pay for”. Out of this light blue jaguar convertible emerges this barefoot caucasian woman wearing a housedress, holding nothing but a cell phone and carrying her dog. She marches towards us and upon arriving, takes a look at my 11 mth old daughter and releases her unleashed dog, who at the time could not walk and was sitting peacefully on the pathway. In the midst of her shouting, I immediately and calmly asked her to restrain her dog as it made a beeline for the baby and it was coming dangerously close to my child. I actually crouched next to the baby and put my hand out to try to shoo this strange dog away. The lady begins shouting at us that we are on private property, and that she will not restrain her dog because she can do whatever she wants there. I told her if her dog damages my child I will be pressing charges and she takes out her phone, starting to record me, asking me if I was threatening her. I repeated what I said. At this point her dog wandered away. Our photographer calmly approached her to let her know that she was the one directing the shoot. The lady tells her that she brought “these” people into “her” neighborhood. The lady had no answer when asked why she did not approach the other photographers WHOM SHE PASSED ON HER WAY TO APPROACH US. Her lack of response prompted my husband to take out his phone to record what was going on. At this point the lady stomps towards my baby and starts aggressively trying to remove the props placed around her, startling me. The baby, petrified by her aggression, started to scream and started crawling away from her into my arms. This did not deter her and she continued - my husband and the photographer quickly approached her to block her from doing this and at this point I started to shout at the lady about her aggression upsetting my child. She appeared stunned that I finally started to shout back at her...but I’m not sure what else she was expecting. The rest is what you see below. When my husband spoke to a police officer following this craziness he confirmed what we already knew - we were doing nothing wrong because we were on public property. The photographers in the vicinty all approached us afterwards completely appalled by this woman’s behaviour, and confused as to why they werent targeted by her at all. She passed people taking fashion shoots, people crouching on the walkway, “trampling” her beloved grass - and came directly at the photoshoot with the gold “1” balloon to cause a scene. With an 11 mth old sitting on the floor. And her parents making funny faces to make her laugh. Absolutely disgusting. A police report has been filed. We will be pressing charges and are currently seeking legal counsel on this matter. Please distribute widely. A baby was involved. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP.
Posted by Kelyn Allen on Monday, February 18, 2019
Neely had a dog with her, and Alyssa said the dog began to approach her daughter.
“In the midst of her shouting, I immediately and calmly asked her to restrain her dog as it made a beeline for the baby and it was coming dangerously close to my child,” Alyssa said. “The lady begins shouting at us that we are on private property, and that she will not restrain her dog because she can do whatever she wants there.”
Alyssa said she and her husband filed a police report after the incident. Houston police told KTRK they are investigating, but no charges have been filed at this time.
Neely said in a statement she was “very sorry” for getting upset, but disputed Alyssa’s account of the incident in the Facebook post.
“The Broadacres Homeowners Association Invests lots of money paying to maintain the trees, grass and walkways in our neighborhood,” Neely said. “The high volume of commercial photography damages the property that Broadacres HOA pays to maintain and interferes with dog walkers and others who merely want to walk under the pretty trees.”
The esplanade where the photo shoot took place, and whether the area is public or not, has been the subject of controversy in the past. The Boradacres homeowners association has said the property was deeded to the group in the 1920s, KTRK reported. It is continuing to fight the city over the property rights.
However, the city of Houston told the news station the land in question is in the public right-of-way.
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