## Facts

- Cleondra Jasmine Carter (mother) and Mario Robert Ramon Escovedo a/k/a Mario Escovedo (father) are the unmarried parents of a daughter, Kylee.
- Carter became pregnant at age 16 and appeared on the television show *Sixteen and Pregnant*.
- After Kylee’s birth, Carter, Kylee, and Escovedo lived together for several years, but Carter and Escovedo later separated and began disputing custody.
- Escovedo petitioned in Mississippi chancery court for custody of Kylee.
- At trial, evidence was presented about the child’s home environment while in Carter’s care, including Carter’s admission that she sometimes allowed men to sleep in the same bed with her and three-year-old Kylee.
- Kylee’s therapist testified that Kylee suffered from anxiety and was particularly afraid of one of Carter’s boyfriends (Michael).
- After applying Mississippi’s best-interest analysis for custody (the *Albright* factors), the chancellor awarded Escovedo sole physical custody and sole legal custody.
- The chancery court awarded Carter visitation every other weekend, certain holidays, and additional times as the parties might mutually agree.
- The custody order also imposed a mutual restriction: neither parent could have nonfamilial overnight guests of the opposite sex in the home while Kylee was present.
- Carter appealed, challenging (1) the award of sole legal and physical custody to Escovedo and (2) the overnight-guest restriction.

## Issues

1. Whether the chancellor committed reversible error in awarding Escovedo sole legal and sole physical custody under the best-interest-of-the-child analysis (*Albright* factors).
2. Whether the chancellor abused discretion by ordering that neither parent may have nonfamilial overnight guests of the opposite sex while the child is present.

## Decision

- The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the award of sole legal and sole physical custody to Escovedo.
- The court affirmed the mutual restriction barring nonfamilial opposite-sex overnight guests while the child was present.
- Disposition: affirmed.

## Legal Principles

- The child’s best interest controls custody determinations in Mississippi; chancellors evaluate best interest using the *Albright* factors.
- Appellate review of child-custody findings is highly deferential; an appellate court will not disturb a chancellor’s decision absent manifest error, clear error, or use of an incorrect legal standard.
- A chancellor’s weighing of competing proof and credibility determinations is entitled to deference on appeal.
- A chancellor may impose reasonable conditions on custody or visitation when the condition is connected to the child’s welfare and supported by record evidence.
- A neutral restriction applied to both parents (such as limiting nonfamily opposite-sex overnight guests while the child is present) may be upheld when the proof supports concerns about the child’s emotional well-being and home environment.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeals upheld the chancery court’s judgment granting Escovedo sole legal and physical custody after the chancellor’s best-interest analysis and also upheld the mutually applicable restriction prohibiting nonfamilial opposite-sex overnight guests while the child was present, finding no abuse of discretion or reversible error.


Carter v. Escovedo, 175 So. 3d 583 (2015)