Battle for Child Support — Transcript

Plaintiff Shelton, 40, dated the defendant for seven years, and they have a 14-year-old son together. Shelton claims a year ago he got custody of his son because the defendant moved around a lot, and his son had been to 13 schools in 14 years.

However, Shelton claims child support was still taken out of his paychecks, so he's suing to get his money back. Then Keisha Davis says she's terrified to be around Shelton because when their son was three years old, Shelton assaulted her right in front of him.

Keisha insists she was entitled to the child support payments until the judge signed off on the order, and therefore she doesn't owe Shelton for anything.

Start with you.

All right, me and the defendant, we dated for about seven years, and that time I realized that it just wasn't going to work out. It's like oil and water, and we're just not gonna mix, you know? We broke up, and a week later she called me and said, "Hey, I'm pregnant."

And you know, the child came. You said it wasn't mine because it's been a week?

No, let me hear from you, ma'am. You give me some background here.

All right, so we were in a teenage romance for seven years, as he said. We have our now 14-year-old son. At this point, we're just, you know, I'm seriously terrified to be around him.

Because when our son was three years old, he physically assaulted me.

I was coming to pick him up from his mother's wedding, and I wanted to leave, and he didn't want to hear that. He wanted to get his piece spoken. He wouldn't let me leave. When I tried to get him to leave, he grabbed me, threw me up against the car, and then he swung me down onto the ground and started picking me up and throwing me.

The whole time, I'm just like, you know, terrified, saying, "Keep your neck still, keep your neck still, your head is going to hit this concrete."

This entire time, our three-year-old son is in the back seat of the car, jumping up and down, begging his dad to leave his mother alone.

I realized he wasn't going to do anything and let me go, even though he hears his child crying in the car. So I finally told him that if you don't let me go, you'll never see them again. He let me go. I ran off to call the police, but by the time the police got there, I was just ready to go. I was scared. We were in Houston. I wanted to get back to school in Abilene, so we left.

And I found from Houston?

I'm from, yes, we're from Houston.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, so I was a congresswoman, isn't it Sheila Jackson Lee?

Yes.

I haven't been in Houston. Who knows your name here, Shelton? I'm gonna talk to her. She just called me. Definitely gonna mention you to her.

Well, Your Honor, I don't start that now.

Yeah, too late. He said, "You're the one," said, "Yeah, that's my congressman."

Had a presentable young man who obviously had a temper problem and made a grave mistake years ago. I hope it was only an isolated incident. That was a terrible incident, and he should have been punished, and you should have followed up with punishment.

Yes, I did attempt to file charges. It was, you know, not seen through myself. I am an assistant manager at a plastic packaging company. Hope you understood that that was something that should never happen again.

Yes, sir. It didn't happen, and it actually happened that way, Your Honor.

She was asked to leave by the Humble Police Department because she showed up on the scene. The part that she left out was I'm talking to her with the car door open, and when she didn't want to hear what I had to say, she threw the car in reverse. I grabbed the door like I'm gonna really stop a car, but I pushed that door. She got upset and tried to wrestle me. Put her down. I grabbed her by the lapels of her jacket. She had on a trench coat. I put her down on the ground, and I told her, "You crazy." She said, "You know what? You're going penitentiary."

My family came outside to investigate because these police officers were paid security to be there for my mother's wedding. They politely put her in the car and said, "You need to leave now before we put you in jail."

We observed this gentleman, and they're having a good time. He wasn't bothering anybody, but just as soon as you showed up on the scene, this is what happened.

Thank God that you all are both here, and you both look like productive folks. Why are you suing her for child support overpayment?

And that's really why I'm giving him half of a break because he has obviously paid you so much that you owe him money. I hope you're not lying today.

No, sir. Go ahead.

All right, April 1st, 2014, I was granted custody of my son. At the time, you know, we're talking about her being kind of transient. She was moving around. My son went to 13 different schools in 14 years. He's only 14 years old. She's lived in Houston, Dallas, Amarillo, Abilene, McKinney. She's moved around a lot.

Everybody had about five degrees. It's actually been in college, right, because you went to school today, I believe?

Yes, sir.

How did we come to her owing you money, though?

Okay, Your Honor, my job, they didn't receive a court order from the original court to tell them when to stop. I have a paper here paying your child support. Let's see it.

Yes, sir.

So you were paying through the state, obviously?

Yes, sir, for the county, which is the best way.

Yes, sir. And I always advise men to do it that way because, yes, sir, that way the record will speak for itself. The only reason you wouldn't want to be on child support through the government is if you're trying to cut some corners, and then that backfires on you because when she gets mad and takes you to court and says he hasn't paid his child support, and you say, "I've been giving you money," you know, "I've been giving you money."

No, you ain't gave me nothing, just a quote. We don't want the government in our business.

You do want them in your business if it's some legal obligations there because one person can paint a different picture.

You got your paperwork?

Yes, sir. It is ordered that the obligation of support Shelton Portee to Keisha Davis is terminated.

So how did she continue getting money?

They never received it. My job never received a copy assigned, so she had knowledge of the date it was to end.

Yes, sir. She knew she was in court.

Okay, so not only did you pay all you owed and more, but you also care for the child now?

Yes, 14-year-old.

Yes, sir. Boy?

Yes, sir.

Good. There's a boy who needs some fatherhood, and it's good to be around his natural father during his adolescence period. It's a good time to be there with you.

So, ma'am, what do you say to this?

Okay, yes, sure. Through, we went to court on April 1st. The judge told him that his attorney needed to draw up the order. His attorney never drew up the order. We received the notice in the mail saying if you do not give the judge an order by June 11th, everything is going to be dismissed, which is why I continued to get something up until June 11th when it was ended.

His attorney did not turn in the order to the judge until 9 A.M. when they were about to dismiss the case.