After saying she shouldn’t be the one to raise her granddaughter, Mama June has been awarded custody of 12-year-old Kaitlyn.
Nearly 9 months after June’s daughter, Anna Cardwell died of cancer on December 9, 2023, court documents obtained by InTouch reveal a Georgia judge has awarded full custody of Kaitlyn to June after Anna’s widower filed to regain custody and visitation of her.
Anna’s husband, Michael is not Kaitlyn biological father. Anna and Michael do share a biological daughter together, Kylee, who Michael does have custody of.
According to People, the court documents revealed a family therapist testified Kaitlyn had “expressed desire to stay” with June, adding that she had “fears of being taken away from” her grandmother.
“Legal and physical custody of the minor child is to remain with the Defendant [Shannon] and Plaintiff [Michael] will have no right to visitation as such, unless otherwise expressly agreed to by the parties and the minor child,” the judge wrote in their ruling.
In his filing, Michael argued that Kaitlyn and Kylee shouldn’t be separated, arguing that Anna and June had a difficult mother-daughter relationship.
Anna was 29 when she died.
In an April interview with Entertainment Tonight, Mama June admitted she shouldn’t be raising Kailtyn. And Kylee shouldn’t be raised by her biological father.
That’s because Anna should be here to do it.
“This is the truth, Kylee’s dad shouldn’t be raising Kylee and I shouldn’t be raising Kaitlyn,” Mama June told ET. “(Their) mother, Anna, should be raising them and that’s what I say over and over and over again. I even tell Kaitlyn that very often, ‘I’ll never replace your mother.’”
But despite the heartbreak of losing her mom, Mama June said, at the time, that Kaitlyn is doing very well as they continue to figure out life together. June also revealed she has yet to see Kylee since they laid Anna to rest.
“I can’t answer for Kylee because we have not seen her since the funeral, but Kaitlyn is doing amazing,” Mama June explained to ET. “She’s going to public school. She’s doing more amazing than she was in her private school as far as grades and stuff.”