Tameka Raymond’s lawyer is speaking up about the child custody case that was sparked once again after the near-drowning of 5-year-old Usher V at a family member’s house. The attorney, Angela Kinley, said that legal documents had been filed before the incident at the pool even happened.
When reports revealed that Tameka Raymond was seeking to gain primary custody of her sons after Usher V got his arm caught in a pool drain at the home of Usher’s aunt, it was generally believed that Tameka was filing the new documents because of the unfortunate incident. Kinley explained, however, that the struggle for primary custody has been going on for quite some time.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that there is a modification custody that was filed May 29 in a separate superior action, and this is just really addressing the issue on a temporary basis until we can have that whole case heard,” Kinley said.
Kinley said that the emergency filing concerning the near-drowning would only be temporary until the courts have the time to hear the case for permanent primary custody.
According to Kinley, Usher’s ex-wife isn’t accusing Usher of being a bad father. She simply feels as if he is too busy to be a full-time dad and she doesn’t feel comfortable with third parties having more parenting control than she does.
“The issue really is just that Mr. Raymond isn’t parenting himself,” Kinley said. “He is allowing other parties to parent on his behalf while he is out of town. Although we certainly understand he has work-related commitments – and we encourage those – we would like the children to be with Ms. Raymond rather than a third party.”
Kinley also revealed that “if it is not in the court order, [Usher] does not allow the children to be with her.”
“Tameka is not pointing any fingers at Usher, she is not assigning any blame in this situation,” Kinley contiued. “It is an issue of the children being able to be with Ms. Raymond rather than third parties. It is not about whether or not Mr. Raymond should be with the children… we encourage that relationship.”
Tameka’s lawyer also explained that the other major problem is that neither Tameka nor her legal team know anything about the third parties who are looking after the children.
“We don’t know who the third parties are,” Kinley said. “We do not know what their qualifications are, we don’t know what their driving history is, we don’t know anything.”
Kinley said that if someone driving the children to and from school and other activities, it is important that they know whether or not the person is a safe driver.
As for family members, it is no secret that Tameka has quite a bit of drama with Usher’s family and her legal team is concerned about having those family members taking care of the children.
The good news is that Usher V is doing just fine and he has not slipped into a coma, as some reports suggested.
“Little Usher is doing really well,” Kinley said. “I talked to Ms. Raymond this morning and he is up, he is alert. He is interacting with her. He is still at the hospital and she is there with him. He is definitely doing well so we are really glad to see the improvements of his health.”
Nobody is sure when he will be released from the hospital, but it is expected to be very soon if his health continues to improve quickly.
Meanwhile, Tameka posted the first pictures of her son on social media since the incident happened.
In the photo she is hugging the boy wrapped up in a blanket. Another picture shows all the “Get Well Soon” balloons and gifts at his bedside.
In the caption she referred to him as her “favorite 5-year-old” and spoke about how the incident made her love and cherish her children even more than she already did.
She also sent out a tweet on Aug. 7 that some believed was her way of denying filing any court documents pertaining to child custody.
“…And no I haven’t gone anywhere or done anything. #Relax,” she tweeted.
