Fans are outraged after authorities took away a second child from “American Idol” contestant Syesha Mercado, just months after taking away her son.
Syesha took to Instagram Live Wednesday to record an encounter with Manatee County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies as they surrounded her vehicle in an attempt to take her days-old daughter from her. The singer was forced to surrender her baby in the welfare check, just months after already having her one-year-old son, Amen’Ra, taken from her custody.
The video shows the TV star begging officers not to take her child and telling them she’s being breastfed. The hour-long video has fans pointing to racism and other discriminatory actions after Mercado and her husband Tyron Deener, who are both Black, had to surrender their children this year.
“How could you guys do this? Do you not feel anything?” she asks. “My baby is days old and you’re taking my baby away from me. You’re taking my baby away from me. You have no heart. This is so wrong.”
After taking their son to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida in February over dehydration—as he was struggling with the transition from breast milk to solid food, according to We Have the Right to Be Right—the boy was assessed by Sally Smith. The doctor has previously been accused of concluding abuse too quickly, as a USA Today Network investigation found dozens of cases where charges were dropped.
Months back, Mercado’s son was given to Manatee Child Protective Services, and Mercado says he was discharged to a foster family without anyone consulting her, NBC News reports. Capt. Dennis Romano Jr., commander of the child protection investigation division of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, said the office tries to place children with other family members first. The office also claims the hospital’s child abuse line said he was “severely malnourished,” but Mercado denies that, saying a child protective officer accused her of denying her son a B12 shot.
“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,” Mercado wrote in a GoFundMe to cover legal fees.
Mercado’s newborn was still in protective custody after a Thursday hearing—as police reportedly claimed in the clip that Mercado gave birth in the middle of the other legal battle without telling them—and she’s still fighting to see her son, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.
