'American Idol's Syesha Mercado Says Her Two Children Were "Legally Kidnapped"

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Syesha Mercado, season 8 American Idol finalist, revealed her 10-day old daughter was removed from her custody by police. Her first child, Amen’Ra, was taken by CPS when a local hospital feared the child was malnourished. Her second child was taken during a roadside welfare check over the weekend.

The video Syesha posted from the roadside welfare check has gone viral with over 2 million views. Within the hour long video, her partner Tyron Deener, is holding the camera. The pair were driving in Sarasota, Florida when their outing was infiltrated by the police.

The police department gave them a court order, which stated that they had custody to take their newborn child to the hospital for a physical exam. In this video, Deener explains that they have been “compliant and following every law” after their home birth. The police eventually take the newborn.

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Amen’Ra Was Taken By CPS Last February

The couple’s first child, Amen’Ra was taken by CPS after Syesha went to a local hospital for aid in transitioning her son off of breastmilk and on to bottle feeding. The transition wasn’t going well, which is why she went to the local hospital in the first place.

“I’m a breastfeeding mother who recently found out that I was pregnant and my milk supply went down and my son was refusing to take the fluids we were giving him,” she explained to Fox 13. “Instead of educating myself and my family and providing us with resources, I was met with a lot of judgment and accusations that literally started to spiral out of control.”

Suuposedly, the hospital suggested giving a B12 shot to the child. The hospital claims that Syesha denied it. The child was supposedly malnourished when he was brought into the hospital.

Syesha denies the allegation entirely, she stated that she did not deny the B12 shot for her child. Instead, they asked for more information about the shot, but were met by investigators and law enforcement.

“WE NEVER refused the B12 shot & up until March 11th Ra was never left in the care of strangers and I was never without him for more than two hours,” said Syesha in her July Instagram post about the events.

Law enforcement stated that the doctors called the investigators and shared that their child was malnourished and underweight. They were concerned if he didn’t get treatment he could die. Child Protective Services also decided to place Amen’Ra in a foster home despite Syesha’s insistance that multiple family members offered to care for the child.

“They bypassed all qualified family placement and claimed he needed to be placed in “medical” foster care, but actually placed him in a ‘regular’ foster home with a white family,” she wrote. “The hospital never notified us when our sun was discharged. He was there alone with strangers for days and given treatments/tests without our consent.”

Will Syesha Regain Custody of Her Children?

Since the childrens’ removal, the county has closed the investigation.

“Amen’Ra has gained weight and is thriving and hope he will soon be reunited with his parents, but that will be left for the judge to decide,” said The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Mercado and Deener’s trial is in November. A false report by Sally Smith, MD also stated that the couple has previous criminal charges.

Syesha, in the meantime, shared in an Instagram post that they are building a support team for the upcoming trial.

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