Syesha Mercado, a former “American Idol” finalist embroiled in a battle with authorities to regain custody of her toddler son after he was unexpectedly placed in foster care earlier this year, has now had her newborn daughter taken away from her, too.
On Wednesday, Mercado broadcast an Instagram Live video showing Manatee County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies surrounding her car and insisting that she surrender her days-old baby in a surprise welfare check off to the side of a road.
In the video, Mercado holds the infant in a fluffy pink blanket and begs deputies not to take her, explaining the baby is breastfed.
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When asked on Mercado’s Instagram Live video why they were taking her newborn, sheriff’s deputies said it was because the couple did not inform authorities that Mercado had given birth while she was in the midst of a legal battle over custody of her first child.
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