'American Idol' Alum Syesha Mercado Reunited With Son 6 Months After CPS 'Kidnapping'
American Idol alum Syesha Mercado has been reunited with her son Amen'ra six months after he was taken from them following a routine checkup at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. Syesha shared the momentous occasion on Instagram, posting a video of her young son in the backseat of their car while her partner Tyron Deneer drove them home. "AMEN'RA IS OFFICIALLY HOME!!!" she wrote in the caption.
Syesha's son and daughter were both taken from her in February over reported "health concerns" related to suspicions of malnutrition. Amen'ra was 15 months old at the time and her daughter, Asset Sba, was just 16-days-old. Mercado originally went to the hospital because she was concerned about her breast milk supply drying up.
"The only thing we've done as parents is going to get assistance for our son," Deener said in August. He claimed that the family was being discriminated against because of their vegan diet. "We've been judged on the way we look, the way we present ourselves. We've been criminalized. We had our son and daughter removed from us for lack of understanding."
The case quickly garnered mass attention as many on social media joined in Syesha's cause. Aside from gaining the attention of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, it also quickly drew attention for Donisha Prendergrast, co-founder of We Have the Right to be Right, a non-profit organization focused on social justice issues. Prendergast and the foundation worked closely with the family and their attorneys on the case, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune. The outlet reported Mercado's son would be joining his mother "soon" on Sept. 25. "This is a very unique moment in history, where we, like the nation, are able to bear witness to a child being taken and families being separated. And we see the struggle of families to maintain their rights as parents against state protocols and the effort it takes to reunify them," she said.
The couple regained custody of their daughter in August. Deneer shared the uplifting news via video on social media. "We want to say thank you, because of y'all, that my family has had the proper support to get the best attorneys in the country to be able to bring justice. Asset is back!" he said at the time.