Entertainment
American Idol star Syesha Mercado reunited with newborn daughter after she was taken by authorities
Syesha Mercado has been fighting to get her daughter back (Pictures: Getty / Rex / Instagram @syesha)
Former American Idol contestant Syesha Mercado has been reunited with her baby daughter Ast after she was taken by police.
The singer, 34, shared a heartwarming live clip in the moments after they were brought back together on Instagram on Friday.
Reality star Syesha could be seen driving in the video as they made their way home, with her partner Tyron saying: ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart and my family for being there for us unconditionally.’
Syesha said she was ‘so happy’ to have her child back, with the US television personality captioning the post: ‘AST IS HOME!!!! #BringRaHome POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!’
The couple admitted they had more work to do to get their 18-month-old son Amen’Ra back from authorities.
The performer, who finished third on American Idol in 2008 after David Cook and David Archuleta, states in her Instagram bio that her son was ‘legally kidnapped’.
Last Wednesday, Manatee County Sheriff deputies surrounded the car in which Syesha, the 10-day-old baby, and the father of the child Tyron were travelling.
They were handed a court order by officials to turn over the infant for a hospital check up.
The removal happened months after Amen’Ra was taken following a trip to John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida for dehydration leading to the child being placed in foster care over allegations of malnutrition.
Syesha was allegedly ordered to file paperwork with the help of her attorney if they had any more children.
Manatee County Shreiff’s Department told The Sun the Safe Children’s Coalition handled the case, including the decision to take Ast into their care.
Syesha looked distraught as she handed over her baby to authorities (Picture: Instagram/syesha)
Last week, Syesha shared a more than hour-long clip of their encounter after they were pulled over by cops with child protective services present who said proper paperwork had not been filed, leading to them taking baby Ast.
Tyron filmed from the driving seat as Syesha sat in the back seat with her baby, with Tyron saying: ‘We’re currently detained by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department.’
He told his attorney on the phone from inside the car: ‘We’re surrounded… they’re warning us to turn over our newborn.’
Syesha sobbed as she was repeatedly told to ‘hand over the baby’.
Syesha finished in third place on American Idol in 2008 (Picture: Fox)
She cooperated with officials and handed the child over, telling them: ‘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!’
The couple created a GoFundMe page in a bid to cover their legal fees, with the pair raising $434,085 (£318,653) at the time of writing.
On the site, Syesha cited her son Amen’Ra’s situation as being a ‘prime example’ of ‘racial discrimination’.
She wrote: ‘The Manatee County Commissioner recently declared that “racism is a county public health crisis”. Our son Amen’Ra is a prime example of that.
‘My family and I are just one in countless other stories of the taking of children from caring parents that go unheard of and unseen.
‘The racial discrimination that our community is facing right now is focused on police brutality of the visibility and documentation but we don’t think about the other forms of systematic oppression that come as a sub-set.
‘In particular, the victimisation of our children through the foster care system. They become the forgotten ones, falling through the cracks because mothers and fathers are too afraid to take on the gigantic task of standing up to the way of thinking and laws that are steeped in colonial times.
‘Parents are coerced to sign plans and documents under mental duress, essentially signing away their rights to a system that doesn’t love or understand us.’
Earlier this month, the couple received the support of Kim Kardashian as she shared about their story on social media.
More: American Idol
The reality star tweeted: ‘Everyone please read and spread this story is absolutely heartbreaking.
‘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.’
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