
Bring Skylar Home: Support Drew's Legal Battle
Donation protected
When I was 11, I met Drew. He was smart, loved basketball, played percussion, always smiling and laughing, genuinely happy, fun guy. Never the bully. Always the friend. We went our separate ways for college but then reconnected when I ran into his father in my twenties. He was the same as a man: genuine, kind-spirited, and hilarious. He actively took care of his younger siblings, and I witnessed this firsthand as they were usually with him when we would catch up and hang out. That same year, I met a woman, Reign, through work. She was a single mom of a 4-year-old daughter, Shemaiah. I would babysit for her from time to time. She told me of her abusive ex and how she was just looking to raise her daughter and make it work. In time, I introduced Reign to Drew.
And that’s why I’m here asking for your help….
They dated, he raised her daughter as his own, eventually married, and went on to have an additional daughter. They moved to Tampa, and we fell out of touch.
We reconnected on FB Messenger of all places in August of 2022. That day, he told me he had recently divorced and finally gotten custody of their younger daughter just a month or so before. He came home one day to his wife and girls missing with no idea why. She took the girls to a women’s shelter claiming abuse, and they helped conceal her and get her to Detroit. He then received divorce papers, and the custody battle ensued. After some digging, his sister found the paternal family of the older daughter. They had been looking for that child since she was 3 years old. Turns out, his ex-wife had a history of leaving and then claiming abuse. They reached out to the biological father of the older daughter, and within 24 hours, the entire family flew across the country to meet. They explained that he too came home to an empty house, had to defend her lies of abuse and slander, and ultimately was unsuccessful in recovering the child. She fled before they could get her to court, and now he had missed nearly 14 years of her life. She had him on child support while simultaneously holding a protective order against him. In short, Drew had unknowingly raised a kidnapped child.
Drew faced similar atrocities in his pursuits. The sheriff looked him in the eye at one point and flat out told him, “If it were you, we would put you under the jail, but it’s the mother, so this is a civil matter.” The school, the courts, the authorities, they all simply aided her and treated him as the villain she portrayed.
There was a glimmer of light for a time. Not only was he able to show in court that none of her claims were accurate, but the first husband also spoke on his behalf and shared his own story. The court granted Drew custody of Skylar. There was a caveat. She would be sent to Detroit to see her mother for summers. And so she did, year 1 and 2. But then year three, this year, she did not send her back. She hid her residence against the court order, again filed injunctions and false CPS reports in an effort to sidestep the arrangement, and we find ourselves here. Awaiting court once again following the most recent injunction that was also unfounded. CPS has cleared him. She didn’t even bother to show up to the injunction hearing wherein she had filed a protection order claiming fear for her safety, again referencing lies that had been thrown out in the divorce proceedings because they simply weren’t true. He is awaiting court and desperately needs to pay his lawyer. He has been so stretched thin through it all, and honestly, as the person that introduced them, I have to write this and humbly ask, please help my genuine, kind friend who wants nothing more than to raise his daughter and keep her safe. He needs funds to continue with his lawyer as well as funding to help with recovery efforts and a therapist when she returns.
When Skylar is with him, she is safe, happy, healthy, and relaxed. But each summer, I have seen the painstaking measures he has to go through to help her reset when she returns. When Skylar has come back from Detroit, both summers she returned bloated from the poor diet her mother provided. She has night terrors for the first month and then sporadically once reacclimated. She is highly anxious and emotional initially, but again, time with her father calms her spirit. He brings out her curiosity, kindness, and you see her as the precocious and thoughtful child she truly is.
I am asking for any donation. You have no idea what it has been for him, and he has made the most out of the smallest help. But he can’t and shouldn’t go through this alone. Please know that whatever you find in your heart to give is appreciated beyond measure. This includes prayer and words of encouragement.
Be Well,
Erica
Organizer and beneficiary
Erica Wilson
Organizer
Riverview, FL
Andrew Myrick
Beneficiary