.
In 2010, I met a psychopath. That psychopath presented a story about himself that was a complete lie – from his profession, to his family, to even his birth name. By the time I learned that he was the suspect in the murder of two people (his own mother Alma Collins and his ex-girlfriend Shawn Mason), it was too late. I had already given birth to our son Prince.
Two weeks after Prince was born, I fled Rams’ house at gun point. I ran to the police for help, but trusting the Virginia police ended up being one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Instead of helping to keep my family safe, they helped my abuser.
I fought to keep my son safe from Rams for 15 months. Finally, after a judge in MD granted Rams unsupervised visitation, Joaquin Rams murdered my son Prince. Two weeks after Prince was killed, I learned that Rams had taken out over 500k in life insurance policies on my child.
-------------------------------------
On Saturday October 20, 2012, I lost my son. I became a mother without a child. He died tragically while he was on one of his first court ordered unsupervised visits with his father. I have heard a lot of terrible stories, but how my son's story ended is unimaginable. I now live for my baby boy. His name was Prince. He is my guardian angel and will always be in my heart.
This blog started out anonymous because I didn't want to lose custody of my son by exposing the people who were putting his life in danger; however, now that my son is gone, I am not staying silent anymore. My name is Hera McLeod and my son's name was Prince Elias McLeod Rams. This is our story. It might not sound real to those hearing it for the first time, but I can assure you that I am not a good enough storyteller to make this all up. I wish this were just a story, because then it wouldn't be happening to me.
June 2012
I am a mom - but this is NOT a mommy blog. I start out with the reality of me as a mom because since July 2011, that will always be part of who I am. It's a very important piece in my journey because he's the love of my life. That little boy has truly saved my life.
Shortly after my son was born, my life was thrown into chaos that I could never have even imagined. If I was honest with myself, however, that chaos had really started from the first moment I met my son's father. I was sucked into the vortex of evil. Since the night I left that vortex, I have been desperately trying to get out of the vortex.
I used to think my story was unique, but the more I tell it - the more I hear of others who have had horrible things happen to them. I have also heard of many parents who are struggling to keep their children from enduring the pain of a broken relationship...and worse...sometimes shielding them from a parent who is "socially maladjusted" or a parent who has a personality disorder or a parent who is just downright dangerous. It's the extreme that I am talking about here, but there are likely elements that a lot of parents can relate to regardless of the degree of craziness that they are dealing with.nnI have been through hell in the past year and now I am trying to move on with my life, raise my little boy, and manage the fact that I don't have a choice but to be connected to a psychopath (thanks to our not so glorious justice system). Gaining sole physical and legal custody of my son was the hardest and the most important thing I have ever done (and the most expensive). I still continue to fight each day to save myself and save my son from this terrorist. If just one person reads my story and gains some hope, tools to deal with the man/woman who terrorizes them, or feels less like a fool because they learn someone else has been conned too - It will all be worth it.
A lot of people like to claim that their ex is a psychopath. Well, mine really is.
In 2010, I met a psychopath. That psychopath presented a story about himself that was a complete lie – from his profession, to his family, to even his birth name. By the time I learned that he was the suspect in the murder of two people (his own mother Alma Collins and his ex-girlfriend Shawn Mason), it was too late. I had already given birth to our son Prince.
Two weeks after Prince was born, I fled Rams’ house at gun point. I ran to the police for help, but trusting the Virginia police ended up being one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Instead of helping to keep my family safe, they helped my abuser.
I fought to keep my son safe from Rams for 15 months. Finally, after a judge in MD granted Rams unsupervised visitation, Joaquin Rams murdered my son Prince. Two weeks after Prince was killed, I learned that Rams had taken out over 500k in life insurance policies on my child.
-------------------------------------
On Saturday October 20, 2012, I lost my son. I became a mother without a child. He died tragically while he was on one of his first court ordered unsupervised visits with his father. I have heard a lot of terrible stories, but how my son's story ended is unimaginable. I now live for my baby boy. His name was Prince. He is my guardian angel and will always be in my heart.
This blog started out anonymous because I didn't want to lose custody of my son by exposing the people who were putting his life in danger; however, now that my son is gone, I am not staying silent anymore. My name is Hera McLeod and my son's name was Prince Elias McLeod Rams. This is our story. It might not sound real to those hearing it for the first time, but I can assure you that I am not a good enough storyteller to make this all up. I wish this were just a story, because then it wouldn't be happening to me.
-------------------------------------
June 2012
I am a mom - but this is NOT a mommy blog. I start out with the reality of me as a mom because since July 2011, that will always be part of who I am. It's a very important piece in my journey because he's the love of my life. That little boy has truly saved my life.
Shortly after my son was born, my life was thrown into chaos that I could never have even imagined. If I was honest with myself, however, that chaos had really started from the first moment I met my sons father. I was sucked into the vortex of evil. Since the night I left that vortex, I have been desperately trying to get out of the vortex.
I used to think my story was unique, but the more I tell it - the more I hear of others who have had horrible things happen to them. I have also heard of many parents who are struggling to keep their children from enduring the pain of a broken relationship...and worse...sometimes shielding them from a parent who is "socially maladjusted" or a parent who has a personality disorder or a parent who is just downright dangerous. It's the extreme that I am talking about here, but there are likely elements that a lot of parents can relate to regardless of the degree of craziness that they are dealing with.
I have been through hell in the past year and now I am trying to move on with my life, raise my little boy, and manage the fact that I don't have a choice but to be connected to a psychopath (thanks to our not so glorious justice system). Gaining sole physical and legal custody of my son was the hardest and the most important thing I have ever done (and the most expensive). I still continue to fight each day to save myself and save my son from this terrorist. If just one person reads my story and gains some hope, tools to deal with the man/woman who terrorizes them, or feels less like a fool because they learn someone else has been conned too - It will all be worth it.
A lot of people like to claim that their ex is a psychopath. Well, mine really is.
About Hera
Hera McLeod is a Washington, D.C. -based writer, speaker, and civil rights activist. She is known for speaking out against the silence, particularly on the topics of civil rights for women and children, domestic violence, and Family Court reform. She was a 2017 Jack Straw Writing Fellow, and has published OpEd pieces in The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and The New York Times. Hera has made several television appearances to include The Today Show, The Tony Danza Show, Crime Watch Daily, and news affiliates for CBS, ABC, and Fox. Her story was also highlighted on an episode of Citizen P.I. on Discovery +. In addition to television appearances, Hera has also testified before the United States Congress on the topics of civil rights and the protection of children. Her testimony in front of the Maryland working group for Family Court Reform and Maryland Legislators was critical in the success of Maryland Senate Bill 0675 (Child Custody - Cases Involving Child Abuse or Domestic Violence - Training for Judges and Child's Counsel).
What is a Psychopath?
The first time I tell anyone my ex is a psychopath, I usually get some variation of a “this bitch is crazy/bitter/overreacting” look. Hell, the first time I told my story to my therapist, he told me he thought I might be the crazy one or at least one good story teller. (he later independently verified parts of the story and has now become a believer)
Part of the problem I faced when I lived with Luc was that I didn’t know what it meant to be a psychopath. I didn’t know what to look for and didn’t understand that all psychopaths don’t present themselves as nuts or look like the serial killers from the movies with the close set eyes and the evil grimace. Many of these people can be extremely charming and their level of deceit and ability to con can be very impressive. These people can fool anyone -from an average Joe to professionals with PhDs. After the cold bucket of water was poured on my head and I saw a bit of who Luc really was, I looked up the definition of a psychopath on google and this is what I found on Wikipedia:
Psychopathy (/saɪˈkɒpəθi/[1][2] from the Ancient Greek ψυχή “psyche”, -soul, mind and πάθος, “pathos” -suffering, disease, condition[3][4]) is a personality disorder that has been variously described as characterized by shallow emotions (in particular reduced fear), stress tolerance, lacking empathy, coldheartedness, lacking guilt, egocentricity, superficial charm, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, nonplanfulness, impulsivity, and antisocial behaviors such as parasitic lifestyle and criminality. There is no consensus about the symptom criteria and there are ongoing debates regarding issues such as essential features, causes, and the possibility of treatment.[5]
Then, I looked everywhere to try and find some sort of test or scale or check list to see if Luc really fit this description (though I suspected he would just based on the definition). I then found Dr. Robert Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R): (I have noted where Luc fits in bold next to each characteristic)
To my knowledge, Luc has never been diagnosed officially as a psychopath (it is my understanding that this particular diagnosis is rare and most psychological evaluators avoid it like the plague). In open court during the Child Custody War, however, the court heard testimony from many credible professionals as well as Luc’s numerous victims. All of this evidence that I have gathered has led me to the below conclusions:
Factor 1: Personality “Aggressive narcissism”
-
- Glibness/superficial charm (Charm – check)
-
- Grandiose sense of self-worth (Uh…yes…he would always talk about how I was lucky to be with him because he was so attractive and successful)
-
- Pathological lying (He lied about his entire story…and continues to lie even when caught. He is also famous for lying under oath and then denying he lied in the face of clear evidence)
-
- Cunning/manipulative (check…he has conned people out of thousands of dollars and was able to manipulate me into paying his mortgage for months among other things. He also effectively manipulated the court into allowing him to have unsupervised visitation with Prince.)
-
- Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric) (He is a professional at crocodile tears. He sat on the stand in court and cried about how much he wanted to take Prince to chuck e cheese for his birthday. When court was over, however, he never followed up or asked to change the visit to Chuck e Cheese as he had requested)
-
- Callousness; lack of empathy (this is clear – child abuse, exploiting women, etc)
-
- Failure to accept responsibility for own actions (Check – he believes everyone else is at fault. Even after assaulting someone, he tries to turn the story to make him look like the victim instead of the person he victimized. Two weeks after my son was born, Luc took my sister to a concert and had sex with her. While he claims it was concentual to this day, the evidence shows otherwise. Depending on whom he talks to about this event, his story changes. Never once, however, has he been able to accept responsibility for this intensely immoral and reprehensible act.)
Factor 2: Case history “Socially deviant lifestyle”.
-
- Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom (maybe this is why he can’t hold a real job? His sexual deviation would also likely fall into this category)
-
- Parasitic lifestyle (yep, lives off of women – his ex girlfriend before me, his own mother until he was found dead in his home, me, and now the older couple with whom he lives)
-
- Poor behavioral control (He was arrested for assaulting his now 13 year old son back in 2010. What he did with my sister would also represent poor behavioral control)
-
- Lack of realistic long-term goals (check…a 40 year old still telling people he is counting on becoming a singer and maybe winning the lottery. Note: He is not a good singer. Luc actually told the custody evaluator in our court case that he had been on tour with major artists. He told me he was on tour with Rihanna in the summer of 2010. Anyone who has access to google could see that this was a bold faced lie.)
-
- Impulsivity (His rages and abusive nature – his habit for impulsively buying hundreds of dollars in lottery tickets without even having an income)
-
- Irresponsibility (Check…thousands of dollars in civil judgements and again the lottery tickets)
-
- Juvenile delinquency (While I don’t have personal experience as I did not know him as a child, I suspect there may have been problems here as well.)
-
- Early behavior problems (Same as above)
-
- Revocation of conditional release
Traits not correlated with either factor
-
- Promiscuous sexual behavior (Check – porn sites and his desire to sexually exploit women while calling it “swinging”)
-
- Many short-term marital relationships (Check – also tends to be violent in its end)
-
- Criminal versatility (check – He has been charged with assault, embezzlement….he has been named as the prime person of interest in at least one murder. He provided the courts with fake tax paperwork and forged paperwork to make it look like he held a job that he had not held)
-
- Acquired behavioural sociopathy/sociological conditioning (Item 21: a newly identified trait i.e. a person relying on sociological strategies and tricks to deceive) (check)
…and mine is real. I live the opposite end of your horror. My ex took our three week old son during his ‘supervised’ visitation the court gave him into a restaurant bathroom and beat him within inches of his life. My son lived. He spent a week in the PICU at Albany Medical Center, and few more days in the step down program and the doctors called it a ‘miracle recovery’. The only problem was, it was not a miracle recovery. My son was brain injured. My x husband who the Judge gave visitation to had just been released from prison and I had divorced him for his crimes. He was arrested, violated on his parole, and then charged. His case was made so public I had to stay with my parents to hide once my son was released. Almost nothing printed in the papers was true. Then, to add insult to injury they rushed him into court on Thanksgiving weekend and gave him the deal of a life time that allowed him to serve only 4 years for his crime before they again released this psychopath to the public. People say to me, you chose him. I try to explain it could happen to them to. They do not seem to understand that psychopaths do not come gift wrapped with a label and are not all these raving mad men they see on television… I am not ‘saying’ I married a psychopath, I know I married a psychopath… and now he walks this world a free man trying to get his son, who does not really understand easily, to friend him.
I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to your son. See, its stuff like this that just reassures me that I need to keep fighting. No child should have to suffer the way ours have.
It makes my blood boil every time I hear the phrase “you chose him”. That is a terrible phrase to insult a victim. I will tell you that you didn’t choose him. He targeted you!!!! He is the one who did a bad thing by targeting you because you were nice and beautiful. He seduced you and presented him in a false light. SHAME ON HIM!!! for that.
Just watched your story on youtube and can’t believe someone could be so heartless…I’m sorry for your loss of Prince..you are very brave to tell your story!!!
My heart breaks for you and all parents, grandparents, and other family members who have had to endure the loss of a child to abuse. While I praise God for my 5 children who are alive and well, I’ve walked this road with not one friend, but two separate friends who didn’t even know each other. Really….what are the odds? In 2007, my childhood friend John was denied his regular weekend visitation with his 2 year old daughter Samantha. Her mom left her with her boyfriend (who’d been drunk for days) and headed to work, but decided on the way that she was “sick” and spent the day with a friend instead. She returned home later to find Sam’s cold, lifeless body…the boyfriend got life without parole, but we got life without Samantha.
18 months later, my best friend’s 3 year old nephew Javon was crying for his mom when she left him with her fiancee to go to the dentist. The fiancee, who had never harmed or raised his voice at either of her children (per her then 8 year old son), yet on this day he couldn’t take the crying and hit Javon in the head, face, and neck cause his brain to swell. Sweet little Javon left us 6 hours later. The fiancee tried to lie through it all that he didn’t know what happened to Javon, but he eventually took a plea for 40 years…he’ll be out in 20 years or less, and then deported back to Africa since he was here on an expired student visa.
I ache for you that you will never know what happened to Prince. The only person who knows won’t be honest enough to give you that closer…not that you could anything he did say. I know his type, seen them several times before, even married one like that. My prayers to you, Hera, and so much love and hugs, although I know it won’t make it better. I really don’t even know how I came across your blog, but look forward to catching up on the old posts and following along to see this piece of s**t get what he deserves.
I am so sorry for your loss. We do not know each other, but you should know that people are listening to you, and hearing you. Reading what you’ve endured, I just cannot believe you are going through this terrible pain. I wondered a long time whether I should comment here, and I finally thought, yes, she should know that her beautiful, honest words, first a warning to others and now a tribute to her precious boy, are affecting people. They affected me. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Hera, firstly, may God continue to guide you and protect you in this fierce battle against the lowest of scum in this universe. I thank God, even though I cannot imagine how much you miss your son, that he is safe, sitting among Angels where no one and no entity can harm him. You will be together again. I know this and yes, he is now your guardian Angel.
My daughter was not killed physically. Her biological father, a demonic entity such as the one you engaged, has slowly, over the past 16 years, tried to murder her soul. I have had to stand by, watching as idiots and ignorant fools in the court, legal and child welfare system continue to ignore her cries for help, the evidence of diabolical abuse in her more than 13 diaries…watching as slowly, the life is drained from her.
I have prayed and begged God to annihilate this demon from our lives, yet he persists. I have survived 23 years of unspeakable agony because of this one depraved and fucked up entity who is permitted to lie in court and treat our daughter as an object.
Thank you for sharing your story and your pain, your hopes and your thoughts. We stand by you, you are never alone…and soon, we will look to our left and right and see how many others there are like us who have gathered, taken a stand and are ready to fight the final battle against these evil pieces of shit. I long for that day.
May God bless you, keep you and shine His light upon you. May the peace that passes all understanding descend from heaven, infused with your son’s love and precious grace, and envelope you so that you are shielded from the freak’s actions. May you continue to be a great warrior who will inherit the earth.
Sending you so much love and light, Lee Strong
Views of the Child Society, Vancouver, B.C. Canada
viewsofthechild@gmail.com
I am so sorry for your loss. I have a 2 yr old daughter and cannot even to begin to imagine what you must be going through. I have been in an abusive relationship and know the very real fear of a psychopath. You’re so right in that they don’t come w/a warning label. If they did, why would anyone ever choose them? They are always Prince Charming at first until they suck you in. HUGS.
Love and light to you and your angel Prince. May God bring you peace someday. There is no way to adequately punish this man but I hope the “system” sure tries to. You have such clear thought and I don’t know what you do as a career but you sound like you would make a great lawyer or Director of a non-profit that works with women and children.
[…] son, Prince, was drowned by his father during an unsupervised visit. Her story can be found at (http://hera-mcleod.com/?page_id=17). The Washington Post also covered her […]
[…] The scars that a child takes into their adult years shapes the kind of woman, mother, wife, man, father and husband a child will become. We should not take this fact lightly. The repercussions of contact with a dangerous father can be life threatening. […]
Hello, my name is Darlene I am 28 with two little ones. Both under five. I myself, their mother, grew up bouncing around in&out of the system. CPS took over custody when I was just 11 years old until aging out at 18.
Lord knows I am doing the best I’m able, being taught very little next too nothing about life teaching&learing practically everything I know to this very day, all on my own sure as fire made EVERYTHING 50x’s harder. Sure seems + feels like it has.
I just read your piece in the Huffington Post, and wanted to say THANK YOU for writing this. I’m so sorry you went through what you did, but so glad you decided to make your story known. Your piece in HuffPost echoes what I recently went through myself, and people around me still don’t believe it was as bad as it was. My daughter and I got out, but I still have to hand her over to her abusive father two weekends a month, which terrifies me – because no one, including the courts, will believe the reality of the situation. Thank you for putting this out there, so people might start to believe!
I was lucky enough to have my child live through his childhood, despite loaded guns being left out, drunk driving without car seats, refusal to provide basic medical care,and countless court and C.p.s. cases where my abuser claimed victim status. But my son spent years being gaslighted by his father and the system.My son, he was and is the light of my life. ..but now at 25 he is dissasociated, disengaged and reworking his childhood memories.He has gone from outgoing and engaged, to withdrawn with physcotic tendencies.I wish I had the guts to kill his father ,even if i spent life in prison the outcome might have been better for my son….oh yeah his dad was and is a cop. Regrets every day…contact me if i can be useful.
I am in need of help. After years of fighting to protect my self and my children I find my self being dragged back to court … He chooses to not pay child support because I have blocked all other forms of communication and this is the only way he can see me. Thursday they messed up and put my real address on the court papers when they served me. Despite my please and informing them he would kill us if they didnt do a Emergancy motion to seal and redact my personal info … They refused… I need help please
[…] the full article at Huffpost.com and visit Hera-Mcleod.com Hera McLeod is a Seattle-based writer, speaker, and civil rights activist. She is known for […]
Hello, Hera. I just wanted reach out as a sort of cheerleader. Having just seen your case on the Citizen PI episode, I find myself quietly sitting here just stunned by your story, and baffled by your bravery and perseverance. I just came by your page here and thought I read your account as well. I studied psychopathy and the PCL-R in grad school and am pleased that you did a pretty darn good job scoring your ex fiancé on the psychopathy checklist. My heart goes out to you. All the best
-matt
[…] The counties are have slim oversight and tons of autonomy. This is why I shared the story of Hera McLeod. Her story happened a few years ago in same county here, dealing with the same agencies, eerily […]
I resonate with you. As a woman, that is married. I see my husband go through this within visitation with his son and his ex girlfriend. This man reminds me so much of who she is. She is as you put a psychopathy, deals with personality disorder issues. She tries to convince her son as well and creates an alienation between the father son relationship. And even denies allegations, even in court under oath. I whole heartly sympathized with you. Reform is needed for family court. I’m not sure when family court will realize, some parent’s cannot hold children. There is so much work and assessments that need to be done. Even with evidence, you are right, the courts pay little attention to what you are trying to express that someone is dangerous, abusive, and they have strong motives and/or tactics.
Me duele mucho que estas cosas pasen
Vi este caso hace unos dias en un documental y hoy lo busque en google y encontré este blog y no pude evitar escribir
Realmente me conmueve este caso el saber que tu hijo corre peligro y que no te hagan caso las autoridades debe ser muy aterrador
La vida es asi de injusta
[…] avocats d’une mère survivante, Hera McLeod, lors de la procédure de garde pour son petit garçon Prince, lui ont conseillé de faire […]
I’m so so sorry. But I simply don’t understand why he wasn’t charged for the rape. This story is so hard to listen to. I’m sorry what you went through, but it just doesn’t make sense. Why would your kid sister (yes 19, but that is still a kid in many ways) go from spending no time with this man to going somewhere alone with someone that has thrown a pot at your head while pregnant and you woke up to him pushing a pillow on your face. I’m 35 and have an 18 yo sister so I can only imagine the pain from this. Nevermind all that, shit happens but then he is not charged for the rape??? And there is 1 child in his care and a newborn at risk of being in his care. This just does not make sense at all. I’m sorry. The system that killed your son, that system could have prevented this if the initial crime, rape, was charged. It makes no sense.
I 100 percent agree that he should have been charged for the rape – for the first murder – for the second murder – and for all of his other crimes that the police ignored. I wish I knew the answer as to why they didn’t charge. I have long suspected that the local police had some connection to Rams.
Hi there,
I first want to start by saying my heart as a mother goes out to you. I’m so so sorry.
I’m writing to ask your help.
I’m in Pennsylvania and I may lose custody of my son to his father who I also believe is a psychopath. My 7 year old son has been repeatedly sexually abused at bedtime.
His father won his own abuse appeal with dhs- by being his own attorney in a closed courtroom ( I or no advocate could attend with my son) what happened there I have no idea- except he was able to question my son and was successful in having all abuse reports expunged. He won his own abuse appeal!
Now I’m awaiting the courts. He has filed for custody. I have been falsely accused of coaching, and projecting- ( there was a great deal of domestic abuse)
Can you offer any help? I feel desperate, terrified and also am doing my best not to be that. To stay focused, and not give up.
I’m terrified for my son.
I was told by the doctor at CHOP that she thinks as she put it “perhaps most importantly she would engage in reunification efforts.” Why on earth would I as a mother do that? Why are people telling me to do something I know is NOT safe?
Hello,
My heart goes out to you and your family,
Your son, poor innocent soul taken too soon. As a single father, it breaks me to think that some men can hurt their precious little ones, Governments need to do a-lot more, especially when concerns are raised. Your a much stronger person then I, my prayers and thoughts go out to you and your family.
Hello,
My Condolences may PRINCE R.I.P
I’m a Farther of two boys and a Detective in South Africa I’m watching Citizen P.I. and i must say the Justice System fails Women, I’m so sorry for the loss of your Son. Is sad to know that you had to play Detective and Fight alone for your Son and your Safety since the night you left that apartment and giving the Police evidence of a Psychopath yet they did nothing.
I can just imagine the frustration of knowing the danger that you got yourself into without knowing a little innocent soul will be taken away from you. I’ve always thought US have the best legal protection seems not now that i have seen this episode. I always learn alot from victims and the extent of their determination it is much more then a Official Detective.
You are a STRONG woman with alot of Courage and you have a Big Brave Heart I SALUTE YOU.
May God bless and Protect you and your Family.
Jay from SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦
Stumbling upon a show called Amateur Sleuths, I saw your episode and even before they said your name I knew it was the girl I’d gone to high school with who was always so full of poise, smiles and smarts — who I knew would go one to do great things. Never, in the first half of the episode, did I imagine that this was your personal story. My outrage and heartbreak for you is nearly overwhelming because in a very different way I have had to fight for my son, too, so while there’s no comparison to your story, I do understand how you summoned the strength to keep going in spite of wanting to be with your son. Your incredible poise and dignity still apparent throughout the worst things a human being can possibly endure, I am not at all shocked but at the same time in awe of the incredible person and mother you have become. As you said, you will March on; and know that even though you likely wouldn’t remember me I will hold your valiant fight within me and will never forget your son nor the change that you’re affecting in his name.
Hi Hera!
I don’t usually leave comments to strangers. I just watched your story on Discovery Plus. I felt compelled to reach out to you. Not to get into my detailed reactions.. You are a beautiful, smart, driven woman that a lot of women should strive to be. The love for your child is unbreakable. God bless you for your courage to take a stand. I hope you are thriving and doing well. 💕
* Lori – Texas
Hero, I mean Hera,
I just happened to watch your episode on Discovery+. When it got to the part where your ex got visitation, I just knew. I am not one to leave comments or look to see if I can leave a comment, normally. I recently went through one of the worst moments of my life. I had an anxiety attach that opened my childhood trauma. Basically, I was raised by a narcistic mother and a passive father. No doubt, nothing compared to the nightmare you lived, but enough to find myself searching for mothers who go above and beyond.
Your story showed me what I was looking for. There are mothers out there who fight for their children, no matter what. Even after losing your beautiful Prince, you continued your fight. So many women would crawl into themselves, me included, and just want to die. Not you! Your fight convicted, not only your boogeyman, but Shaun’s families, as well.
My mothers shortcomings made me the best mom I could be. I have amazing communication with my girls as well as a closeness my mother and I could never have.
I can only imagine how much more amazing a mother you will be, because of the fight in you. Thank you for sharing your story.
Just watched your story in South Africa, on Discovery ID.
It is a heart rending watch, a tragic unnecessary loss of a beautiful innocent baby, pure evil personified.
Thank you for being so strong, you are an inspiration and hopefully now the authorities will take action so this never happens again.
Love and respect, truly sorry for your loss.
After watching your story, I would really be interested in knowing who the hell the insurance company, underwriter & agent was who wrote a $500,000 insurance policy on a baby! They bear responsibility for this. It goes against EVERYTHING insurance is SUPPOSED to be & while it might not have violated a current law, it SHOULD have! Insurance is meant to replace income, provide for funeral expenses & help make families whole financially! How much did Prince make? Nothing! The MOST he should have been able to insure Prince for would be between $5,000 & 50,000! $50,000 would have been a ridiculous amount & is generally written to provide as a savings vehicle for college. There is absolutely ZERO justification for writing $500,000 for a baby! Also, the insurance company should have had an obligation to at least notify you, as his mother, that the policy had been applied for! If Joaquin could have been prohibited from obtaining a policy or the amount would have been limited to a reasonable amount…it could have saved Prince (& other children) because he wouldn’t have had a half a million dollar motive to kill him. The law really shouldn’t allow a non-custodial parent to get life insurance if they aren’t going to be responsible for paying final expenses. I am quite sure Joaquin had ZERO intention of doing so. If you would like, feel free to contact me via email either with your number or request mine & I will forward! I am so very sorry for your loss. I as an insurance agent for Prudential for a short time & this is really upsetting to me. This should not have happened. Also…if you didn’t collect the insurance, YOU SHOULD HAVE! It’s the very least they could do for their part in providing him with ample motive to murder Prince. Again, I am so very sorry.
Unfortunately, the insurance company wasn’t required to pay out. They should have had to pay Prince’s siblings who will now have to grow up without their brother.
No words can even be said right now. I am just bawling watching your story and the fact you have all this evidence and no one helps you is unreal.
You are incredible and I knew that from the moment I started watching your story. I am so unbelievably sorry for your loss.
You are in my thoughts and I do hope you have had some healing time even though that pain could never truly go away.
You are amazing 💜
I just watched your story on Discovery Plus. I watch disturbing shows all the time, but this one really hit me deep. I have not experienced anything like this but, as a mother, my heart breaks for you and I am still sobbing hours after watching. For some reason I was driven to look up your story and thank you for sharing. You are an incredibly brave and unbelievably strong woman to walk through this trauma time and time again to make a difference in this world and to help others. I hope you have been able to somehow find some peace and joy in life. You deserve that. Sending love to baby Prince and his Mama ❤️
Stay strong, I’m happy you are safe as well.
You’re such a beautiful mom and what a tragic story this is I feel for you
[…] Her anger turned to resolve. She vowed to advocate for children, women and family court reform. She testified before Congress and before state lawmakers. She shared her story. […]