Black Family Has Baby in the Car on the to the Hospital
"American Idol" star Syesha Mercado is raising her voice against the Manatee County Sheriff'due south Office afterward they seized her 10-mean solar day-old baby daughter in a harrowing moment captured in a now-viral video.
This is the second child that authorities have "forcefully and legally kidnapped" — equally she describes information technology — nether unclear circumstances in the past five months from the 34-year-old Sarasota, Florida native, who finished in the summit iii during the seventh season of TV's long-running singing competition.
Deputies surrounded an SUV that Mercado, her newborn baby and her partner, Tyron Deener, were driving in Wednesday morning to conduct a surprise roadside welfare bank check, as captured in agonizing footage with more than 2.1 million views as of Sat afternoon. Police and so took custody of the infant to bring her to a infirmary for a physical, presumably due to prior — yet hotly disputed — allegations of malnutrition concerning the couple's and then 13-month-erstwhile son.
Mercado and Deener, 36, posted the incident on Instagram with the caption, "THEY TOOK OUR BABY Again!." The hour-long video shows multiple constabulary vehicles flashing lights while two male person deputies serve the couple with a court social club to turn over their baby.
"Practise you not feel anything? You lot guys, I'm human. This is my baby. My babies is days old — and you're taking my baby abroad from me," a crying Mercado can be heard saying in the chilling clip earlier starting to sob as four female person child protective services caseworkers stand up their ground.
The singer-actress — who starred in Broadway's "The Book of Mormon" in 2014 — and Deener attempt to explain to regime that they are "compliant and post-obit every law," adding that their daughter had already been seen by physicians merely a day prior.
"You are traumatizing my baby. How could you guys do this?," a distraught Mercado screams every bit her girl is taken from her arms and placed alone in the back seat of a city vehicle. "… You accept no heart. This is so wrong. I take the key to this city … I'll hold information technology together. I'chiliad strong."
Mercado was indeed presented a key to the city of Sarasota during her "American Idol" hometown visit on May 9, 2008, which was proclaimed "Syesha Mercado Day" past local officials. She eventually finished 3rd behind David Archuleta and that season'southward winner, David Cook, on the bear witness. She went on to headline the 2009-2010 national tour of "Dreamgirls," which launched at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater, opposite future 2021 Tony nominee Adrienne Warren, who stars equally Tina Turner in "Tina" on Broadway.
A decade later, Mercado had to breastfeed her crying baby and provide authorities with a bottle of breast milk on the shoulder of a decorated road, The Root reported.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Part and Florida Department of Children and Families have not responded to The Post's repeated requests for comment. The final listed professional person representative for Mercado said "she's not really working correct now" simply expressed concern about her state of affairs. Attempts to contact her straight have been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, her babe is even so in protective custody, according to activist Donisha Prendergast, 36, founder of the Nosotros Take the Right to exist Correct social justice system, who is advocating for the couple.
Five months earlier, Mercado and Deener's 1-year-old son, Amen'Ra, also was placed into the system afterward Mercado's breast milk supply started to run dry, and the boy would not accept other fluids, FOX Tampa Bay reported at the time. They took Amen'Ra to Johns Hopkins All Children'due south Infirmary in St. Petersburg on Feb. 26 for assist.
While there, Prendergast'southward organization alleges that the lilliputian male child was examined past Dr. Emerge Smith, the controversial subject area of a 2020 The states Today Network investigation afterwards she was accused of being "likewise quick to diagnose child abuse," which Smith has denied. Investigators reviewed hundreds of Smith'due south cases and found more than a dozen instances where charges were later dropped — but the caregivers names were left irreparably smeared forever.
Dr. Smith did not immediately respond to The Post's asking for comment.
About two weeks after Amen'Ra was admitted, CPS and armed Pinellas County Constabulary officers reportedly ordered Mercado and Deener out of the hospital amid allegations of "trespassing" and "severe malnutrition." Their son was discharged in late March and immediately transferred by CPS into foster intendance.
During the ongoing fight to become their son back, the couple asked that all caseworker interactions be facilitated through their lawyer, said Deener, a youth service professional who works in the foster care arrangement. When CPS investigators showed up at their home upon learning Mercado gave birth to her daughter without alerting them, they were refused entry and referred to said attorney. That's when the agency reportedly received approval to conduct a welfare investigation and remove their newborn.
"My baby is healthy and happy," a desperate Mercado is heard telling them during the roadside seizure. "All you had to do was telephone call the attorney. Nosotros have all the paperwork."
Prior to this calendar week'south events, the parents had launched a GoFundMe — titled "The Legalized Kidnapping of Black Babies Through CPS" — and more than $327,000 has been raised as of Saturday, surpassing their posted $200,000 goal to cover legal bills.
"I am a pregnant, breastfeeding mama who went to the hospital with the intention to get my [son], Amen'Ra, some fluids while transitioning from extended breastfeeding to being bottle-fed," Mercado'southward crowd-sourcing campaign pitch reads. "On March 11 … Amen'Ra was forcefully and legally kidnapped from united states past CPS, who claim we refused a B-12 shot that was a thing of life and death, which is an accented lie."
Nevertheless, authorities did tell local media outlets that medical staff reported Mercado and Deener for turning downwardly a B-12 intramuscular shot, as recommended by hospital doctors, a merits that Mercado doggedly denies.
"We never refused a B-12 shot, and at no point was he on the verge of death," she said earlier her 2nd child was taken into custody. "Our [son] has since been placed with a white foster family unit without interviewing qualified relatives or friends of our family unit for placement while they investigate. We are given express information and before long only take weekly zoom visitation for an hour with … no court order stating these visitation limitations."
Mercado has vowed to keep fighting.
During her time on "AI," The Post took annotation of her survival skills: "In the 'Idol' dictionary nether 'drama' lies Syesha'south calendar week in Hollywood. The uber-talented singer spent the whole week on song residue to overcome a strained throat, cold and myriad of other complications. Merely when time came to fight for her spot in the competition, one of the near adamant contestants in testify history knocked it out the box."
Source: https://nypost.com/2021/08/13/manatee-county-police-take-american-idol-alums-baby-away/
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