x
Breaking News
More () »

Grandma says Collin County judge improperly allowed the adoption of her granddaughter

Isabella was supposed to go back to her biological grandmother, Isolina Byrd's house, but instead, Gant went to court to adopt the little girl.

Isabella Byrd is a beautiful little girl who loves ballet.

For the first few years of her life, she lived with her mother, Alexandra, and her grandmother, Isolina. "She has always had her place, her life, her residence, her comfort for two and a half years at my home,” said Isolina Byrd.

When Isabella was 3 years old, her mother met a man named Royce Gant. They dated for a few months. She and Isabella moved in with him, but Alexandra suffered from depression and got hooked on opioids, like millions of Americans.

When she went to rehab, Isabella stayed with Gant and her half-sister in his apartment. CPS approved it. "It was supposed to be a temporary plan. CPS knew it was a temporary plan,” said Byrd.

Isabella was supposed to go back to her biological grandmother, Isolina Byrd’s house, but instead, Gant went to court to adopt the little girl.

Gant is not Isabella’s biological father so in order to adopt her, he needed Alexandra to give up her rights as the mother. Something she refused to do. "In this situation, he tried to move for adoption without gaining consent from the mother,” said Matthew Argentieri, Byrd’s attorney.

The case ended up in Judge John Roach’s court in Collin County. Isolina fought for custody of the granddaughter she’d always intended to raise. "She’s involved in dance classes, modeling, social activities. I am very very involved in her educational growth as well. So she knows our house, our home and she wants to be there. That’s her rightful place, and where she should be,” said Byrd.

Gant presented no evidence to Judge Roach that Alexandra had given up her parental rights. But the judge allowed Gant to adopt Isabella without that and ruled against her biological grandmother.

"In this situation having never been married to the mother, he was not authorized under the family code to do the adoption without the mother’s consent,” said Argentieri.

According to court documents, Judge Roach gave Gant custody of Isabella, so she could stay with her half-sister – Gant’s biological daughter – who she’d been living with. Isabella’s grandmother then spent her life savings to file an appeal saying the judge was wrong.

The 5th District Court of Appeals agreed and ruled in Isolina’s favor saying, “Gant was not entitled to adopt without consent.” And went on to say, “The trial court abused its discretion in granting the adoption.” The Appeals court reversed Judge Roach’s ruling.

Even with the 5th Circuit ruling, Judge Roach still gave Gant custody. That means Isabella still has to live with him. Now her grandmother has to go back to court to gain back custody of her 7-year-old granddaughter. WFAA attempted several times to get a comment from Judge Roach, he did not respond to our request.

"It’s gut-wrenching. It hurts. It’s painful to know that she wants to be there too, but because of the situation we are in until we can do something about it we are going to have to make the best of it,” said Byrd.

Byrd has filed official complaints with the State regarding Judge Roach. She has also filed complaints against Child Protective Services.

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas by wfaachannel8 on Scribd

Before You Leave, Check This Out