Photo: Syesha Mercado/instagram (2)
TheAmerican Idolalum, 34, and her partner Tyron Deener announced on Friday that they have been reunited with their 2-week-old daughter Ast after temporarilylosing custodyof the child last week.
News of the reunion wasshared in a videoposted to Mercado’s Instagram, in which Deener told their supporters, “Ast is back with us.”
“We still got work to do to get Ra back, but we just wanted to say thank you because of y’all … we had the proper support to get the best attorneys in the country to be able to bring justice,” Deener told followers.
In aGoFundMeset up in support of the family, Mercado claimed that child services officials took Amen’Ra when she had taken the boy to a Florida hospital for fluids while transitioning from breastfeeding to the bottle due to her pregnancy at the time.
Randy Warren, a spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, previously told PEOPLE that an investigation was launched after authorities receiving a tip about a child who was “suffering from severe malnutrition.”
RELATED VIDEO:American IdolAlum Syesha Mercado Loses Custody of 2nd Child Just 5 Months After Her 1st: ‘Legally Kidnapped’
On Aug. 11, Mercado posted a video of her family’s interaction with the deputies, during which she and Deener received a court order to turn over Ast for a hospital checkup despite their claims that they have paperwork proving she had gone the day before.
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On Tuesday, Mercado and Deener spoke out about losing custody of both Ast and Amen’Ra in a virtual press conference.
“I am a first-time mom and I’ve been deprived of holding my babies, and feeding my babies,” Mercado said. “I didn’t get to see Ra say mama for the first time. I didn’t get to see my babies meet for the first time. I didn’t get to see that and I can’t go back and redo that moment. I will never be able to go back and redo that moment.”
“I’m supposed to be loving my babies,” the singer continued. “I’ve been deprived of that and I don’t know how to articulate it. It hurts so bad.”
gofundme
During the press conference, Deener also said that he and Mercado “have not done anything that is irresponsible as parents.”
“The only thing that we have ever done as parents is make responsible decisions, loving decisions,” Deener said. “We have not committed any crime. We have not abused our babies.”
“Our life revolves around health, balance and doing what we can to guide our children,” he added. “Nothing that we do is detrimental to our babies.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
