Lisa Marie Presley’s estranged husband, Michael Lockwood, has filed documents in their ongoing custody case claiming he fears his ex will have a drug relapse after her son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide earlier this month at the age of 27. In documents obtained by Us Weekly, Lockwood, with whom Presley shares twin daughters Harper and Finley, 11, claimed to the Superior Court of the State of California that awarding him temporary full custody would be best for the children after Keough’s death.
“On July 12, 2020, Petitioner’s son shot and killed himself in Petitioner’s home (although Petitioner was not there at the time),” Lockwood said of Elvis Presley’s daughter. “With all due sympathy and respect, this creates a new and unaddressed twofold problem: the safety of the children and the greater likelihood of Petitioner to relapse into drug or alcohol dependency.”
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Benjamin, who is Presley’s son with first husband Danny Keough died at his mother’s Calabasas, California, home on July 12 of a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. Lockwood says in the court documents that there was at least one gun in Presley’s house on that tragic day “and it is unclear where the gun was kept or whether Finley and/or Harper might have had access to this gun or others. Thus, there is significant high risk to the safety of the children which would ordinarily justify 100 percent physical custody to Respondent at this time in such circumstances.”
Lockwood added there is a “greater possibility” the girls “might think about suicide or attempt it, in light of their half brother’s suicide,” and that the twins would likely need therapy and more attention to be paid to them, which he argued Presley might not “be capable of doing due to her mindset and grief.” He added that it would not be “surprising” for Presley “to relapse into drug or alcohol use despite her alleged three years sober.”
Lockwood and Presley have been involved in a custody battle ever since the two split in June 2016 after 10 years of marriage. The singer has argued that his estranged wife having 50 percent custody of their kids “may not even be in the best interests of the children at this time,” proposing initially that the two share joint legal and physical custody of the twins, and that he be awarded child support of “no less than approximately $9,500 per month.” A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3.
