Michael Cardwell is fighting back in his custody court battle with Mama June Shannon!
The Ashley can exclusively reveal that June’s former son-in-law Michael Cardwell— whom she is battling for custody of her oldest granddaughter Kaitlyn— has informed the court that he plans to call Mama June’s ex, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson to testify against her as a witness. As fans know, June and Sugar Bear had a nasty split in 2014, but he continued to appear on Mama June’s WEtv shows for years afterward.
Sugar Bear also appeared on Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and was the stepdad of Kaitlyn’s late mother, Anna Cardwell. Although he lived with Anna during her younger years, he and June had already split by the time Anna and Michael got married in 2015. However, Anna remained close to Sugar Bear and even moved in with him and his then-wife Jennifer following her split from Michael in 2017. (At the time, Anna was estranged from June.)
“It’s likely that Sugar Bear will testify about the long periods of estrangement between Anna and June, and Anna’s reasons behind not wanting to be around her mother, or have Kaitlyn around her,” one source tells The Ashley.
When he filed for custody of his former stepdaughter Kaitlyn back in December, Michael stated that he does not feel that June is an appropriate caretaker for Kaitlyn, given that June and Anna did not get along for many years, and Kaitlyn only came back in June’s life when Anna became sick.
“Anna has been raised by her maternal grandmother in Griffin, Georgia, since she was approximately eight years old and only returned to the home of June Shannon when she was 17,” Michael wrote in court documents.
As The Ashley previously reported, Anna became estranged from June as an adult after June became romantically linked again to Mark McDaniel, the man who molested Anna as a child. June reconnected with him after he got out of prison for his crimes against Anna. (That scandal also caused TLC to cancel ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ in 2014.)
“Anna has had a very sordid relationship with her mother throughout her life and went various periods of time without speaking to her,” Michael wrote. “Likewise, June’s presence in [Kaitlyn’s] life has been inconsistent.”
The Ashley can also reveal that Michael plans to call a counselor as a witness, as well as his fiancé, London Smith. London helped Michael take care of both Kaitlyn and Kylee when they would come for visits while Anna was still alive. She recently wrote a letter to Kaitlyn on Instagram, stating how much she, Kylee and Michael miss her. (Because Kylee is Michael’s biological daughter, she automatically went to live with him following Anna’s death in December. Kaitlyn’s bio father is unknown.)
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June has also filed her witness list with the court, and has informed the judge that she plans to have her witnesses testify about statements that Kaitlyn allegedly made outside of court in the past.
According to the court documents obtained by The Ashley, June is calling Anna’s widower, Elridge Toney, as one of her witnesses. Elridge— who married Anna shortly after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer— lived with Anna and the girls for years before the wedding. In fact, on a recent episode of ‘Mama June: Family Crisis,’ Anna even stated that she would like for custody of Kaitlyn to go to Elridge when she passed.
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While Elridge never filed for custody of Kaitlyn, he will be required to appear and testify at the hearing.
June will also be calling in someone from the center she has her drug-testing done, to present the results of the drug tests June has taken from January 2023 to the present.
She has also subpoenaed the principal of Kaitlyn’s school, who is being told to bring in records of Kaitlyn’s attendance, “notes regarding parental involvement,” parent/teacher conference notes, and much more, including proof of tuition payments. (This is likely due to the fact that, when Michael filed for custody of Kaitlyn in December, he stated in court docs that he has continued to pay for Kaitlyn’s schooling, even after he and Anna divorced.)
In addition, June has indicated that she plans to call Michael’s boss to the stand as a witness. Michael’s boss will be required to testify about Michael’s pay, work schedule and reveal any disciplinary actions or write-ups Michael has had while working there.
As The Ashley recently told you, June also filed a motion in court earlier this month, demanding that the Wilkinson County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) bring evidence that is supposedly in its possession that shows “records pertaining to child abuse and/or neglect.”
The motion claims that whatever evidence is supposedly in the DCFS’ possession is important to the custody case. June asked that an “in-camera inspection” of the records be done first. (This basically means that the judge will be allowed to look at the records in his/her chambers alone.) On Wednesday, the court approved June’s motion and ruled that the judge will do an in-camera inspection of the DCFS records and, from there, determine what info from the records can be used in the hearing and how.
June, Michael and their witnesses are due to appear in court on Thursday for the hearing. It is unknown if Kaitlyn will also be in attendance; however, earlier this month, 11-year-old Kaitlyn submitted an affidavit in court, stating that she wants to live with June and does not want to have visitation with Michael.
The Ashley will continue to provide updates on the court hearing. Stay tuned…
(Photos: Facebook; WEtv; Instagram)
12 Responses
June has no damn business raising any child. Look at what she has done to her own kids! Takes up with the S.O.B. who molested her daughter once he is released from prison! Has had numerous drug arrests. Stolen money from her kids….and chosen low life jackasses over her own kids. I hope and pray that when this all goes to court the judge does what is completely best for the children and not June!
Very sad. I hope June doesn’t get this child. She obviously doesn’t care about keeping kids safe
I’m sure if there was anything at all incriminating on Michael from DCFS, that June would have already been blasting it all over the internet and TV. Cases get opened, investigated, and closed all the time for reasons beyond a parent’s control. If anything *had* come about during an investigation, we’d definitely have known about it.
What’s with June calling his boss as a witness? Is she trying to say he doesn’t make enough money? That he works too many hours? That he’s been written up? At least the man has a job!
Seems he is also determined to do right by Kaitlyn..
I think sugar bear really loved those kids. Probably still does. I feel like June backed him into a corner with Alana. I couldn’t stomach that horrible Jennifer either. He has way more potential to be a good partner, but he had that ripped away from him.
Parent
I so wish Anna had all of this sorted before she passed. Poor Kaitlyn going through all this. June is not fit to have her, and I know Anna wouldn’t want June raising her.
Can we put June out of the pic and let Michael and Justin share custody of the girls? Justin cares more about Kaitlyn’s emotional health than June.
Hope the judge sees the live’s that june does, especially the one where shes begging for more viewers and she will show her butt crack and some pink( junes words not mine) whilst caitlyn is right there with june, its disgusting what they are exposing that child too, and the vid where P- Flumpkin’s hubby is shouting and cussing at caitlyn also, they shouldnt be anywhere near any of Anna’s daughters.
I would want to believe that once the judge hears about June “reigniting the flame” with Anna’s abuser when he was released from jail it would be game over for her but sadly judges are mostly morons that think that because a person shares DNA with a kid then said kid must live with them regardless of the atrocities that person has done over and over and over again