Court confirms emergency removal; child to remain with fictive kin while paternity test proceeds

A Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court jurist on an emergency-removal case confirmed the removal order and said the child will remain placed with a fictive kin while DNA testing to determine paternity is pending.

The hearing record shows the child’s mother has died. Chelsea Pelham of CPS testified that the department served the petition and provided a death certificate, that the maternal grandmother and aunt declined placement and recommended placement with Anderson Morgan, and that Pelham had evaluated Morgan’s home and found no background-check problems. Sasha Thomas, counsel for the department, asked the court to determine the child dependent and to place the child with the department pending further investigation of paternity.

The alleged father, identified in court as Mr. Evertz, was present but not yet legally established as the child’s father; the court noted DNA testing was underway. Michael McFarland of the public defender’s office said he would represent Evertz only if paternity is determined and Evertz becomes a legal respondent. An attorney who identified contacting the prosecutor’s office said DNA results were expected but running behind, and that results might take about a week; the court allowed up to 14 days before taking further procedural steps.

The jurist closed the preliminary hearing with the information available, confirmed the child’s continued placement with the fictive kin the child is familiar with, and directed the department to notify the court if paternity is established so an amended or supplemental petition can be filed. The court set a pretrial for the morning of Feb. 18 for further proceedings.

Court staff and counsel discussed services and monitoring: Pelham said she had referred the child for early intervention services and that Foster Solutions will handle requests from Evertz for visitation or continued services while the department monitors the placement and the DNA results. The transcript also records social-history details provided by Pelham about Evertz, including previous CPS involvement and criminal incidents spanning 2018, 2019 and 2022; Pelham said some prior parental rights in an older case had been terminated for physical abuse, domestic violence and improper supervision, and that records from out-of-county files were incomplete.

The jurist’s concluding direction left investigative follow-up to CPS and Foster Solutions and scheduled the pretrial date; no formal change to parental status was recorded during the hearing.