Recently, there’s been a heated custody battle between June “Mama June” Shannon and Michael Cardwell over 11-year old Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is the daughter of Anna Cardwell (Mama June’s daughter and Michael Cardwell’s ex-wife), who sadly passed away recently due to cancer.
For those unfamiliar, Mama June and the rest of her family were the stars of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, which ran on the TLC network from 2012 to 2017. While the show largely focuses on her daughter Alana (also known as Honey Boo Boo), she has several other children, including Lauryn, Jessica, and Anna. Near the end of the first season of the show, Mama June’s eldest daughter Anna gave birth to Kaitlyn.
While Michael Cardwell isn’t her biological father, he’s been in her life for years and raised her as his own, and has continued to care for her even after his split from Anna. Unfortunately, in early 2023, Anna was diagnosed with cancer after she went to the doctor for stomach aches she was suffering from.
Custody Battle For Kaitlyn Shannon
Sadly, her cancer continued to spread rapidly and she eventually passed away from it on December 9th 2023. She was only 29 years old. After her passing, the question of Kaitlyn’s custody came about.
Both her former stepdad Michael Cardwelll and Mama June seek custody, and the two are set to meet in court soon to decide where Kaitlyn will live. In Georgia, people need to be 14 years old before they’re able to choose who they live with in a custody dispute.
Since she’s only 11, Kaitlyn’s best course of action was to file an Election with the court, which means she can state in court which person she would prefer to live with. Kaitlyn has made her decision known, as she filed that she wanted to live with her grandmother, Mama June. Not only that, she also says that she doesn’t wish to have set visitation with Michael, either.
While this doesn’t mean the courts will ultimately side with Mama June, it lets them know who the child prefers to reside with. One person that isn’t trying to get custody of Anna’s daughter is Anna’s husband Eldridge Toney. Even though Anna had revealed before her death that she wanted Toney to get custody of Kaitlyn, he didn’t file for it. Despite this, he still sees his stepdaughters as much as possible.
Anna Cardwell’s ‘Dying Wish’
But since Anna’s passing, Mama June has also came out to say that it was Anna’s “dying wish” to have Kaitlyn live with her. June also said that Michael only wants to gain custody of Kaitlyn for financial reasons.
Michael also went on the offensive in this case, as he said that June has been inconsistent in Kaitlyn’s life, due to Anna being estranged from June during periods of her life.
It remains to be seen who will gain custody of Kaitlyn, but you can be sure both parties are going to do everything they can to win in court.
