Please be seated. -Hello, Your Honor. -Hello.
This is the case of Thomas, Sherman v. Castello. Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. [audience] Good day. Ms.
Sherman, you claim that the defendant is taking advantage of your grieving aunt, emotionally and financially by claiming your deceased brother is her child's father. You need today's results because you won't allow your aunt to support a child who is not your brother's. -Is that correct?
-Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Castello, you say you're tired of Ms.
Sherman and Ms. Thomas questioning the paternity of your son and you are here to put an end to their doubts once and for all. Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Sherman, you say Ms.
Castello is taking advantage -of your aunt? -Yes, Your Honor. [Judge Lake] Explain to the court why.
Um, my aunt threw Marrissa a baby shower. She supports this baby financially, as in buying his diapers, his clothes, his food when he is at the house. If he has a doctor's appointment, she is there.
And I don't-- That's not right if she doesn't know if the baby is his. Your Honor, that's his family. -We don't know that.
-They choose to decide to do that. Ericka was there with me at the hospital when I had the baby. She videotaped the entire thing.
And when Ryan was born, she saw the crown of his head and said, "He is a Sherman. " All right. So, you are not taking advantage of Ms.
Thomas, Ms. Castello? No, ma'am.
She is-- She takes her part as being his aunt. She raises him. Whenever she goes-- He goes over to her house every other week.
For an entire week. And if there were any doubts that she had about Ryan being his son, then it shouldn't matter what he does. 'Cause that's his kid.
[Judge Lake] But the truth is there still is very real doubt. Is there doubt? No, ma'am, not on my end.
Your Honor, when I seen the crown of that baby's head, I'm like-- I just started crying. I said, "That's my baby's. That's my baby's baby.
" You know, and. . .
[shudders] It don't replace him, but having him in my life, it helps me deal with him not being here. I need him to be Ryan's. 'Cause I can't say what will happen if it comes back that he is not.
'Cause that baby means so much to me. I can't tell you how that baby feels. Missing my nephew, his death was just not what it's supposed to be.
He would have been a great father. And I said he's not here to take care of his kid. So, I said I'm going to step up and do it.
I'm being his auntie, being Junior's auntie. I'm going to step up and be that. Ryan, baby Ryan needs to know who his family is.
We don't know for sure. [Judge Lake] And so, Ms. Sherman, I have to ask you.
I see your expression. And I see how resolute you are. Yes, Your Honor.
I'd like to know specifically, why do you have doubts? Why? Um, for one, Your Honor, my brother told me that he doubted the baby because-- [Judge Lake] What did he say?
He wasn't for sure if Marrissa was actually pregnant. And then he wasn't for sure if the baby was his. So-- I'm not saying even that this is not my brother's baby.
I love him. I was with him last week. But I'm not going to get attached to a baby if I don't know, because I can't do that for me.
I can't sit here and be like that's a part of my brother and then it end up not being. But when we were in college, Your Honor, they were both unfaithful. Both of them slept around with multiple people.
-And-- -Talk to me. When Ryan and I got together. .
. We got together in the beginning of August. October, end of September, to the beginning of October, we moved into Ms.
Thomas' house. At that point, we stayed with each other the entire way. So, any argument, fight, diss, a disagreement that we had, Ericka knew about it because we came to her about whatever problem that we had.
So, Ms. Castello, take me to the point you found out you were pregnant. I found out I was pregnant in the middle of March.
And at that point in time, I contacted Ryan and I told him, "Hey, you know, I think I'm pregnant. " And at that point in time, he was like, "Well, you know, is this my kid? " And I said, "Well, you know--" It was a slap in the face because I know he had room for doubt.
Because when we broke up in the beginning of January, I started to talk to somebody else. He started to talk to somebody else. And then, towards the middle of-- After me and the other guy had intercourse with each other, Ryan and I had intercourse probably about a week later.
And then I found out in March that I was pregnant. And so when I came to Ryan, that's where I say, you know, we both weren't innocent. -'Cause I knew he was talking to somebody.
-[Judge Lake] Right. And I was talking to somebody. -Right.
-So. . .
But at the same time, it was a slap in my face. 'Cause I was like, you were the last person I had intercourse with. You are not positive if it's-- You just said you were sleeping with somebody else.
[Ms. Castello] I know. But at the same time, -I knew from the fact Ryan.
. . -[Ms.
Sherman] I never said. . .
Ryan was the very last person that I slept with. I never said Ryan was a saint. Y'all was both sleeping with other people.
I'm just saying, don't say that he is for sure his if you're not sure. I have no doubts because I know for a fact. -If you look at my son-- -[Ms.
Sherman] How you got no doubt if you were sleeping with somebody the next week? -You just had-- -If you look at my son and you look at Ryan Junior, resemblance. When you look at Ryan Junior's baby pictures, -and you look at my son-- -[Ms.
Sherman] He doesn't look like my brother. -He looks like our family. -[Ms.
Castello scoffs] [Ms. Castello] You weren't saying that the other day when you messaged me. No, no, no.
I said he looks similar to my family. I never said that he doesn't just look like him. [Judge Lake] All right.
But listen. He doesn't look like my brother. We-- It's human nature to go based on looks, but we have learned in this courtroom -that we can't always go based on looks.
-Mmm-hmm. -[Judge Lake] So, let's go on the timeframe. -Okay.
So, the best way to figure this out is to go to my conception calculator. Let's figure this out. I need baby Ryan's birthday.
Baby Ryan's birthday is October 27th, 2017. Okay. I've put that birth date in, October 27th, 2017.
And press calculate. [Ms. Castello] Exactly.
[Judge Lake] Calculates the window of conception as February 1st to February 5th. And the date of intercourse between January 29th and February 5th. The end of January to beginning of February.
Is that when you testified you were having sex with the other guy? I was having sex with the other guy the beginning of January. -[Ms.
Sherman] But that's not what she said. -But Ryan and I-- Ryan and I slept with each other towards, probably like the first to second week of February. When I found out I was pregnant, it was in March.
But earlier you testified it was the middle of February before you and Ryan got back together. We didn't fully get back together when we had intercourse with each other. You testified that you had sex with Ryan at the middle of February.
-And then you said-- -[Ms. Sherman] Now you see where my doubt is coming from. You can have doubts, but you still claim him as your nephew.
-I do. -So don't claim him if you don't have any problems. You can step the other way and move the [bleep] out of my face.
[Judge Lake] Okay, hold on. Let's be respectful and use respectful language in the courtroom. What was the point you were making, Ms.
Sherman? Like I said, I do not not just say, "This is my nephew. " If you go on my Facebook, his pictures are everywhere.
[audience exclaiming] That's not it. I'm not just saying that this is not my brother's baby. I want to make sure.
You see how my aunt is looking? How she is crying? My whole family is like this.
-Because they don't know. -So, if you have doubts, then why do you ask to see him? -If you have doubts-- -Because if I have doubts and that is my brother's baby, I still want to be there!
My brother is not there for him. If you have doubts, there is no need for you to be in my child's life. That's exactly why my brother said he didn't know.
-Because when you deny-- -So, when you find out-- When you find out, I want an apology. And at that same time when I get that apology, you still won't be able to see Ryan. That's your decision, then.
-So. . .
-Then you took me away from him. -So, we-- -No, you took yourself away when you had doubts. But I just said I'm going to be there.
No, you took yourself away when you had doubts. Okay. Ladies, ladies, ladies.
We going down a road to nowhere fast. This is not helping. -It really isn't.
-It's not. -[Judge Lake] It's not helping. -I just want to be there-- Ultimately.
. . Ultimately, It's about-- It's about-- Excuse me, Your Honor, but at the end of the day.
. . I don't get in the middle of their spats, because of that baby.
They need to understand that at the end of the day, it's not about how she feel, it's not about how she feel. It's all about him. And if they're fighting like this, and I tell them all the time, if I was to die, who will be there for him?
I'm not certain that my family will pick up where I left off. I don't want that baby being left alone. But I will say this about Marrissa.
Marrissa came to me. . .
after my nephew died. And she was honest with me 'cause she know me. I don't pick sides.
Baby girl, just tell me the truth. I know exactly when she say she has sex with Ryan. She might be nervous and getting everything mixed in.
It was at the end of July-- At the end of January, that she told me she had sex with Ryan. She had sex with the boy at the beginning of January. But what confused her was she had her period in January but didn't have her period in February.
So, she was confused. I told her. I said, "Okay, well, Marrissa, you know we're going to have the DNA test, right?
" She was so angry with my nephew. She didn't even want to name him Ryan. She didn't even want to give him the last name "Sherman.
" And I told her, "Marrissa, you and Ryan played these games together. Both of y'all were in the wrong. You can't just blame Ryan for Ryan denying this baby.
" So, you're saying you convinced Ms. Castello to name the baby "Ryan. " [Ms.
Thomas] Yes. When I seen Ryan's head, 'cause if you look at any of our family, you cannot deny none of our family. Our family look identical to each other.
Everybody. When I seen that baby come out and I seen his crown, I just started crying. I said, "That's my baby's.
" Even though all the drama was going on, I text her pictures of him after he was born. You know, "He's here, he is ours. " -[Ms.
Sherman] She did. -He is ours. Well, she-- Marrissa knew-- [Judge Lake] And so, Ms.
Thomas, I do have to ask you, because, unfortunately, Ryan. . .
passed away before baby Ryan was born. -[Ms. Thomas] Yes.
-[Ms. Sherman] Yes. [Judge Lake] Have you even considered that if this baby is not your biological family member, what will you do?
Honestly, I don't know. I have a bond with that baby. [audience exclaiming] [Judge Lake] So, the stakes are very high.
[Ms. Sherman] Yeah, I want this to be my brother's baby. -[Judge Lake] You do?
-No doubt. [Judge Lake] I was just about to ask you. I love this little boy.
-I want that to be-- -You don't even call my son by his first name. [Ms. Sherman] I can't.
I'll tell you why I don't call him by his first name. You don't even call him by his first name. Did I call Ryan by his name?
Or did I call him Junior? I don't like calling him Ryan because I feel like I'm calling him my brother's name. Not saying that I'm taking that away from him being his son.
But I feel like I don't want to call nobody else my brother's name. To me, this is my only Ryan. That's my Levi, if that's my brother's son.
That's it. I don't call him Ryan simply on the fact I can't deal with calling him Ryan -and calling another-- -It just triggers. It triggers.
Emotions. And not even against the baby. -[Judge Lake] Right.
-Just on the fact that my brother is not here no more. My brother was 18 years old. He should not be gone this early.
Period. He would have loved this little boy. [Judge Lake] Well, I will say, Ms.
Sherman, as I look at this, this is. . .
such an unfortunate tragic situation. And Ryan is just gone way, way too soon. [Ms.
Sherman] Too early. [Judge Lake] And. .
. I feel the pain in the room. I truly, truly have such empathy and compassion for your family.
I'm so sorry. And I think the only thing we can do at this point, for everyone, so we can figure out where do we go now, is to get the results. Jerome, I'm ready for the envelope.
[audience applauding] [Ms. Thomas groaning] [Ms. Thomas panting heavily] Are you okay, Ms.
Thomas? Are you okay? You want me to read them?
You okay? Okay. These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics.
And they read as follows. Ms. Thomas, are you all right?
Do you need to sit down? Are you okay? She's okay.
She cries like this. You okay? -[Judge Lake] You okay?
-Go on, read. "Because there wasn't a blood card available to test the DNA of the deceased, Ryan Sherman Junior, we performed a DNA test with his surviving sister, Nalaencia Sherman. With that being said, the results determine if there is a viable relationship between the child, Ryan Castello, and Nalaencia Sherman.
" [Ms. Thomas continues panting] Ms. Thomas, are you okay?
-Can you make it through the result? -[Ms. Thomas] Yes.
[Judge Lake] Are you sure you don't need to sit down? No. Are you sure you want me to read these?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
"In the case of Thomas, Sherman v. Castello, when it comes to. .
. " [Ms. Thomas muttering] It got to be Ryan's.
"Sixteen-month-old Ryan Castello Sherman, it has been determined by this Court, the percentage of relatedness between Ms. Nalaencia Sherman and Ryan Castello Sherman is. .
. 97. 8 percent.
" You are related. Yes! Yes!
I knew-- I knew it! I knew it. -I knew it.
I knew it. -We good, baby! We good!
So, with that being said, Marrissa, I mean, I apologize for doubting, but I could only go off of what my brother said. I do accept your apology, and, you know, I will bring Ryan around for you more. I do accept, you know, what you said.
It just-- I feel like it could have been handled differently. It could have. And I'm not gonna act like it couldn't, but you know, at that time, we was both pregnant.
-We both-- -Well, that's a recipe for disaster. I mean, hot pregnant in the summer in Texas. That's even, ain't no talking then, we just mad all day.
Okay, hot pregnant in the summer in Texas. Look, I get it. But I will say this, now that we are in a new place with the truth, I think we can move differently.
And we can begin to heal those wounds. And you have such a beautiful, beautiful baby to honor and love, and teach about his father. And surround him with love and become the village he will need.
And we're going to take that, we're going to roll with that. I'm going to send you all off to Dr Jeff, and I wish you all the best. -Court is adjourned.
[chuckles] -[all] Thank you.
