AN American Idol alumni from the seventh season of the show is dealing with a rough custody situation.
Syesha Mercado shared a heartbreaking video on Instagram about a situation that has arisen due to a legal custody battle involving her two children.
2
Who is Syesha Mercado?
Syesha is an American Idol alumnus.
She appeared on American Idol season 7.
Syesha came in third place on American Idol in 2008, when she was just 21 years old, Us Weekly reported.
What happened to Syesha Mercado?
Syesha appears to have had her newborn child taken away from her.
On August 11, Syesha shared an Instagram video where she sobbed as police took away her 10-day-old baby five months after she alleged her first child was “legally kidnapped.”
As a result of past custody issues with the state of Florida over her firstborn with her partner, Tyron Deener, Syesha and her attorney were allegedly ordered to file paperwork if the pair had any more children.
In the video, Florida law enforcement did a roadside welfare check on the newborn, and the officers and child protective services team who showed up claimed proper paperwork wasn’t filed with officials.
The former American Idol contestant claimed that their attorney had the paperwork and “all they had to do was call” to solve the problem.
Was Syesha Mercado’s baby taken away?
In the video, Syesha’s partner, Tyron, said to his attorney over the phone, “We’re surrounded… they’re warning us to turn over our newborn.”
Even though the couple claimed the baby was healthy and had just had a doctor’s checkup, the CPS workers present repeatedly told her to “hand over the baby” and ultimately took the newborn.
“You guys have created so much trauma, you have no hearts! You just expect me to come outside and be like, hi, guys, you’re my friends. You’re not my friends,” Syesha exclaimed in the heartbreaking clip
The baby could also be heard sobbing and screaming as her mother and father are forced to give her up.
Why were Syesha Mercado’s kids removed by authorities?
Syesha lost custody of their then-15-month-old son, Amen’Ra, after a visit to the hospital in 2021, Us Weekly reported.
She revealed in a YouTube video that her breastmilk had dried up while she was pregnant with her second child and as a result, weaning her son was challenging.
Ultimately, the baby was hospitalized for two weeks until March 11 because doctors were reportedly concerned for his health.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office told Fox 13 Tampa Bay back in May that doctors called the police over their concerns and claimed Syesha’s son was malnourished and underweight.
“We were also told by these medical professionals that unless he got the treatment he needed — ongoing, consistent treatment — that he would die,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.
“It was our understanding that there had been … a lack of medical care. We want him to go back home, it just has to happen at the appropriate time.”
On a GoFundMe campaign Syesha organized, she alleged, “Amen’Ra was forcefully and legally kidnapped from us by CPS, who claim we refused a B12 shot that was a matter of life and death, which is an absolute lie.”
“We never refused a B12 shot, and at no point was he on the verge of death.”
2
Will Syesha Mercado get her children back?
Syesha has a lot of support to regain custody of her kids.
They appear to be in foster care and Mercado alleged that child protective services didn’t first seek family members who could take Amen’Ra instead before turning to that alternative.
But the spokesperson for the sheriff’s office previously said “We want him to go back home,” and Syesha has a lot of support on her GoFundMe and on social media.
In fact, Kim Kardashian shared Syesha’s story on Instagram in August.
“Everyone please read and spread this story is absolutely heartbreaking,” she wrote via her Instagram Story.
“How a mother could go and seek help for her baby that is not wanting to eat, they take the baby into foster care and remove her newborn baby with no reports of abuse.”
So far, the GoFundMe has raised over $400,000 to help get Syesha and Tyron their children back.