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Mama June Says Reality TV Camera Captured Anna Cardwell’s Custody Plan for Daughters: ‘People Will See’
Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s final wishes for who would get custody of her two daughters after her death were filmed for her family’s reality TV show, mom June “Mama June” Shannon claimed.
June, 44, told The U.S. Sun on Thursday, January 11, that WeTV cameras were rolling for Mama June: Family Crisis when Anna, who died at 29 years old on December 9, 2023, following a 10-month battle with adrenal cancer, revealed her custody plans for daughters Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, 8.
“We are following Anna’s wishes at the end of the day. People will see that all this season of the show,” she said. “A lot was covered on camera. The world will hear it from Anna’s mouth. This is a hard season to watch, for sure. Like I said when I’ve been going live on TikTok, a lot of people need to realize that a lot of our life has been documented.”
June has been involved in a custody battle over Kaitlyn with Anna’s ex-husband, Michael Cardwell, who is Kylee’s father. After Anna’s death, Kylee moved in with Michael — which was reportedly part of her mother’s custody plan — and Kaitlyn remained in June’s care after the mom of four was granted emergency guardianship on December 15, 2023. However, Michael filed a lawsuit against June in a Georgia court for custody of the preteen two days later, according to court documents obtained by In Touch.
Michael, who was married to Anna from 2014 to 2017, claimed in the docs that Kaitlyn’s biological father had not been involved in her life or supported her in any way. As a result, Michael stepped up to a “permanent, unequivocal, committed, and responsible parental role” in Kaitlyn’s life and grew close with her during his relationship with Anna. He also argued that he was and still is paying for Kaitlyn’s schooling.
Finally, Michael pointed to Anna’s “sordid relationship with her mother,” as she was raised by her maternal grandmother and did not reunite with June until she was 17 years old.
June filed a petition asking for permanent sole legal and sole physical custody of Kaitlyn one day after Michael filed his lawsuit, according to documents obtained by In Touch. She argued that she was the best fit to take care of Kaitlyn because the preteen and Anna had already been living with June prior to Anna’s death. June also claimed that it was Anna’s wish for Kaitlyn to live with her and husband Justin Stroud.
June was awarded emergency temporary custody of Kaitlyn on December 19, 2023, as a judge ruled that it was in the child’s best interest to stay with her grandmother until a future hearing can be determined. Michael then hired legal representation, and June was served on December 22, as he intended to continue pursuing permanent custody of Kaitlyn.
An attorney for Michael told The U.S. Sun that they were aware of June’s claim that Anna’s custody wishes were filmed.
“I believe that’s been Ms. Shannon’s claim for some time, but we’ve seen no documents and no footage of anything,” the lawyer claimed. “To be frank, this is a court case that is going to play out in a courtroom in front of a judge and not over any reality TV show. We’ve not seen any official documents or any even informal documents that pertain to her decisions.”
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