Kayleigh Davis to live with Grandmother after custody battle

In a hotly contested custody case, Judge Steve Burgess ruled Tuesday that the maternal grandmother of Kayleigh A. Davis would have temporary primary custody over her 11-year-old granddaughter, until her parents, both parties to the litigation

Since Kayleigh’s father, John Davis, filed for a divorce in 2014 from Stephanie Davis, Stephanie has been the primary custodian over Kayleigh. Strange behavior on Stephanie’s behalf and an incident in November led to Child Protective Services involvement that resulted in Kayleigh being placed in her father’s care. After the CPS closed the case, both Stephanie and John Davis appeared in court asking to be granted primary custody.

In November, Beatrice Eadon, Kayleigh’s maternal grandmother, let John take Kayleigh’s belongings up to her room after dropping her off. Upon entering the room, he found it in disarray, with Stephanie’s belongings scattered around. John testified that Kayleigh said her mother likes to use her room “because it had a lock on it.”  While helping Kayleigh clean off her bed, he found a bag of what looked like meth. He brought it down to show Eadon, and attempted to call Stephanie several times before leaving.

Prior to finding the bag, both John and Eadon recalled in testimony Stephanie’s unusual behavior. Stephanie would later blame this behavior on a head injury she suffered on the way to the bathroom. After sleeping on her injury overnight, she testified, she crashed her car the following morning.

Stephanie’s mother Beatrice Eadon remembered the night of the injury. She testified she saw Stephanie fumbling around trying to remove all the smoke detectors because the lights bothered her and was convinced that people were watching her. For both Eadon and John, the strange behavior started long before that night. For more than a year Stephanie complained about bugs crawling on her skin, even when nothing was there.

Eadon testified that she wasn’t  sure what meth looked like, and that she doesn’t really think John really found the bag in Kayleigh’s bed.

After finding the bag, John contacted CPS, where investigator Shani Dehart was assigned to the case. During the trial, Stephanie’s lawyer Bethany Stevens called Dehart as the first witness.

Dehart testified that after receiving the initial CPS call, she performed drug tests on both parents and the child. John and Kayleigh’s test results returned negative, while Stephanie tested positive for meth. At the time of her home visit with Stephanie, Kayleigh had already moved in with her father.

Eadon, who Stevens called as a second witness, testified that she didn’t think either party was  “completely unfit for parenting”  despite some concerns.  In the case of Stephanie, she worried about her drug use and suggested “spontaneous” drug tests.  As for John, she wasn’t sure that he could he provide “the emotional support a little girl needs,” citing John’s short temper.

The parties addressed their own individual concerns with the other being the primary conservator.

Stephanie’s concerns mirrored her mother’s in regard to John’s temper. She testified it was the reason she divorced him in the first place, but when questioned by John’s lawyer, she later admitted that it was John who filed for divorce due to her infidelity. Her other concern involved John’s inconsistent schedule working two weeks on and one week off in the oil fields.

John testified that if necessary he would get a 9-5 job outside of the oil fields, even though he lacks other skills and had financial concerns about it. “Whatever it takes to make her safe,” John said. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for my daughter.”

In terms of his temper, he testified he’s only ever had to spank Kayleigh around five times in his life. At times, he has raised his voice to her, he said,  but it’s rare because Kayleigh is usually well behaved.

His concerns with Stephanie involveD a pattern Stephanie has exhibited involving using drugs to cope with stress. He fears she will relapse one day. He testified that he has no intention of keeping Kayleigh away from her mother, he just wants to make sure she is safe until Stephanie can “get the help she needs.” He also provided unsubstantiated claims that Stephanie was a prostitute. He testified that while married, he found her escort phone and after searching the phone number on the Internet, he saw ads of Stephanie in their home. He offered no evidence of any prostitution arrests or convictions involving Stephanie.

Stephanie denied any claims of prostitution and all witnesses said they had no knowledge or reason to believe she was ever an escort. She did, however, admit to a single two-week period where she “experimented with meth”   She stated she was stressed and often tired. She thought that using the drug would give her more energy and “make her into a Super-Mom.”  She testified that after that two-week period she didn’t like the way it made her feel, and has not used the drug since.

At the two-hour mark of the trial, the judge refused to hear any further testimony in the interest of time. He ordered both parties undergo psychological evaluations, which they would pay for on their own before any further decisions could be made. In the meantime,  Kayleigh’s grandmother would take on the role of temporary primary conservator.

Each parent will be allowed two weekends each month with Kayleigh. Fifteen minutes of electronic communication would be allowed for Stephanie on even numbered days, and John on odd numbered days. Any further visitation was at the discretion of Eadon, who was not awarded any child support.

All parties were ordered to report back to court in 90 days for a final decision.